SETTING THE STAGE
•The Southwest Minnesota State University (9-24, 8-20 NSIC) baseball team is back on the road for a conference doubleheader versus Northern State University (21-21, 16-15 NSIC) on Tuesday afternoon at Bob Wiley Field in Webster, S.D.
•The doubleheader is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. The two games were relocated to Webster because Aberdeen's Fossum Field is under construction.
•NSU, which won two of three at nationally ranked St. Cloud State this past weekend, is currently in seventh place in the NSIC standings while SMSU begins the week in 13^th place in NSIC play. The top eight teams qualify for the NSIC Tournament from May 8-11.
•Following Tuesday's two games, SMSU will conclude the season on Friday and Saturday hosting St. Cloud State in a three-game series at Alumni Field.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and statistics for both games will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
 
            SERIES HISTORY
•SMSU holds a 96-44 advantage in the series with the first meeting occurring in 1979.
•The two teams split a doubleheader last season in Omaha, Neb., with NSU winning game one, 4-0, before SMSU won 12-2 in the nightcap.
 
            SMSU LAST TIME OUT
•SMSU went 3-2 in five games last week, sweeping a home doubleheader from Minnesota Duluth, before losing two of three games at UMary.
•SMSU won the opener versus UMary 1-0 in nine innings as Christopher Berg hit a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning to give SMSU its first extra-inning victory since the 2017 season.
•John Bezdicek earned the victory tossing a career-high 8 1/3 innings and recording nine strikeouts.
•SMSU left nine runners on base, including bases loaded in the top of the seventh, in losing game two of the series, 2-1.
•SMSU lost the third game of the series, 6-4, once again stranding the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning.
•Junior Brady Lanoue batted .438 (7 for 16) in five games last week with two home runs and six RBIs and finished with 13 total bases.
 
            HEAD COACH
•Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 23rd season as head coach and has an overall record of 527-500-2, including 302-277 in conference play.
•He entered the 2019 season ranking 48th in Division II?among active coaches in career victories.
•During his tenure, Blanchard has led the program to one NCAA tournament appearance, one NSIC championship, three NSIC tournament championships, 15 appearances in the NSIC tournament and four 30-win seasons.
•Named the fifth coach in SMSU history on July 14, 1996, Blanchard has coached two NSIC Players of the Year, one NSIC Pitcher of the Year, 21 all-region honorees, two Academic All-Americans, one NCAA All-American and two Major League Baseball draft picks.
 
            TEAM NUMBERS
•Through 33 games, SMSU is batting .250 with 71 extra-base hits including 49 doubles, three triples and 19 home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has compiled a 6.03 ERA in 259 2/3 innings with 210 strikeouts and 108 walks.
 
            MUSTANG DIAMOND NOTES
•Jayden Fleck, Connor Johnson and Tanner Strommen each lead the team with eight multi-hit games.
•Fleck is batting a team-high .296 with five home runs and is tied for the team lead with 18 RBIs.
•Fleck ranks seventh in team history in hit by pitches (29), seventh in assists (323), eighth in at bats (539) and tied for 10^th in walks (78).
•Ben Heichel leads the club with six home runs and has 18 RBIs. His six home runs in conference play is tied for seventh in the NSIC.
•Jake Hendricks has a team-leading nine doubles with three home runs and and 18 RBIs.
•Brady Lanoue and Hendricks both have a team-leading five multi-RBI games.
•Left-hander John Bezdicek is 2-4 with two complete games, a team-leading 55 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings and has compiled a 2.79 ERA.   
•Bezdicek's 14 strikeouts in seven innings at Upper Iowa on March 31 is tied for the highest single-game total in the NSIC this season. He currently ranks fourth in the conference with 48 strikeouts and is ninth in ERA (2.32).
•Bezdicek was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on April 2 following a three-hit, seven-inning shutout, with a career-high 14 strikeouts at Upper Iowa.
•Bezdicek ranks first in team history in strikeouts per nine innings with 10.62. He also ranks seventh in team history in career ERA at 3.57 (min. 70 innings).
•Right-hander Spencer Schroeder has made seven appearances with six starts and is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 35 innings.
•Right-hander Donny Schroeder has made 10 appearances all out of relief and has two victories.
•Left-hander Teddy Broxterman has pitched in a team-high 12 games and has recorded a team-leading four saves.
•Senior right-hander Justin Clark started two games this season but is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to an injury. He has appeared in 34 games including 29 starts with 147 strikeouts in 153 innings during his career.
 
            MUSTANG SINGLE-GAME AND CAREER STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 50th season of baseball and has an all-time record of 957-1,083-3 in 2,043 games.
•SMSU won conference championships in 1974, 1994, 1996 and 2002 and captured NSIC?tournament championships in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2002.
•SMSU made its only NCAA tournament appearance in 2009.