?            SETTING THE STAGE
•The Southwest Minnesota State University (10-25, 9-21 NSIC) baseball team closes out the 2019 season on Friday and Saturday hosting nationally ranked St. Cloud State University (36-9, 24-7 NSIC) at Legion Field in Marshall.
•Friday's doubleheader is set to begin at 1:30 p.m., while Saturday's game is scheduled for 12 p.m. The games were moved to Legion Field due to wet field conditions at Alumni Field.
•SCSU, currently in third place in the NSIC standings, is ranked No. 10 in the latest Collegiate Baseball Top 30 and No. 14 in the NCBWA Top 25 poll.
•SCSU is also ranked No. 3 in this week's NCAA Central Region rankings.
•SMSU enters the weekend 12^th in the NSIC standings. The top eight teams qualify for the NSIC Tournament from May 8-11.
•SMSU's 2-1 loss to Northern State on Tuesday was its seventh one-run loss in league play this season. SMSU has also lost four games by two runs. 
•SCSU begins the weekend with the No. 1 ranked pitching staff in the NSIC with an ERA of 2.41 with a league-high 296 strikeouts.
•SMSU sophomore left-hander John Bezdicek ranks 10^th in the NSIC in ERA (2.32).
 
            SENIOR DAY
•SMSU will honor its four seniors, Jayden Fleck, Connor Johnson, Alex Jorgensen and Cole Petersen prior to Saturday's game.
•Fleck begins the weekend having played in 165 games collecting 149 hits including 27 doubles, 14 home runs, 80 RBIs and has scored 98 runs.
•Johnson began his career as a pitcher appearing in 18 games his first two seasons. He then moved to the outfield and has 56 hits with 12 doubles, five home runs and 38 RBIs in two seasons.
•Jorgensen has been a member of the team for five seasons and has pitched in 44 games recording five victories and four saves in 120 2/3 innings with 102 strikeouts. He pitched in four games in 2017 but received a medical redshirt.
•Petersen redshirted in 2015 and has appeared in 36 with 29 starts in his career. He has 11 victories and has struck out 118 batters in 181 1/3 innings. He was named second team All-NSIC in 2017, finishing 6-2 with a 1.70 ERA in 53 innings. 
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live statistics for all three games will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
 
            SERIES HISTORY
•SCSU holds a 56-18 advantage in the series with the first meeting occurring in 1970.
•SMSU and SCSU were both members of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference from 1970 to 1981. SCSU left for the North Central Conference before rejoining the NSIC in 2009.
•SCSU has won the last 12 meetings including 12-2 earlier this season on March 8 in Tucson, Ariz.
•SMSU's last win in the series came on April 11, 2015, in St. Cloud.
•SCSU swept a four-game series in Marshall during the 2016 season. It was the first time SCSU had played in Marshall since the 2004 season.   
 
            SMSU LAST TIME OUT
•SMSU split a doubleheader versus Northern State on Tuesday, losing 2-1, before holding on a for an 8-6 victory in game two.
•In game one, SMSU was limited to three hits with NSU ace pitcher Luke Chevalier recording 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
•SMSU scored its lone run in the opener on a pinch-hit RBI single by Andy Andresen in the seventh.
•Spencer Schroeder was the tough-luck loser for the Mustangs as he allowed two runs on three hits with one walk and zero strikeouts.
•In game two, Wes Sarsland fired a career-high seven-plus innings while recording a career-high eight strikeouts to pick up the victory.
•SMSU held an 8-1 lead in the ninth inning before NSU rallied to cut the deficit to 8-6. Teddy Broxterman came on to record the final out of the game to record his fifth save of the season.
•SMSU had just four hits in game two with Derek Smith collecting two RBIs including a run-scoring double.
•Jake Hendricks also had an RBI double in the victory.
 
            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 528-501-2, including 303-278 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 35 games, SMSU is batting .243 with 74 extra-base hits including 52 doubles, three triples and 19 home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has compiled a 5.83 ERA in 274 2/3 innings with 222 strikeouts and 113 walks.
 
            MUSTANG DIAMOND NOTES
•Tanner Strommen leads the team with nine multi-hit games while Jayden Fleck and Connor Johnson each have eight.
•Fleck is batting a team-high .281 with five home runs and is second on the team lead with 18 RBIs.
•Fleck ranks seventh in team history in hit by pitches (29), seventh in assists (330), seventh in at bats (549) and is 10^th in walks (80).
•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 10 doubles with three home runs and a team-high 19 RBIs. He ranks tied for seventh in the NSIC with nine doubles.
•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 fifth in the conference with 50 strikeouts and is 10th 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 eight appearances with seven starts and is 2-2 with a 3.73 ERA in 41 innings with 23 strikeouts.
•Right-hander Donny Schroeder has made 10 appearances all in relief and has two victories.
•Left-hander Teddy Broxterman has pitched in a team-high 13 games and has recorded a team-leading five saves which also ranks tied for second in the NSIC.
•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 958-1,084-3 in 2,045 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.