?            THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team opens its 51st season of play this weekend with a three-game series versus nationally-ranked Missouri Southern State University (10-1) at Warren Turner Field in Joplin, Mo.
•The Lions are ranked No. 17 in this week's NCBWA Top 25 poll
•The two teams play a doubleheader on Saturday with game one starting at 1 p.m. The two teams will play one seven-inning game and one nine-inning game. The series concludes on Sunday with a nine-inning game starting at 12 p.m. 
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live statistics and video for the three-game series will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
 
            SERIES HISTORY
•SMSU and Missouri Southern have meet just one previous time with MSSU winning 11-1 during the 1986 NAIA Regional Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
•SMSU last played a current member of the MIAA in 2016 when SMSU lost four games at Newman (Kan.).
•In 2014, SMSU lost twice at Emporia State and split two games versus Missouri Western State.
 
            ABOUT MISSOURI SOUTHERN STATE
•The Lions have opened the season with a 10-1 record, including sweeping a four-game series versus UMary and defeating St. Cloud State.
•MSSU was picked to finish third in the MIAA after compiling a 35-21 record in 2019, while making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
•MSSU is led by 2019 MIAA Pitcher of the Year, Zach Parish, who is 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA this season with 33 strikeouts in 18 innings. A two-time conference pitcher of the week in 2020, Parish threw a seven-inning no-hitter versus UMary on Feb. 8.
 
            HEAD COACH
•Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 24th season as head coach and has an overall record of 529-503-2, including 304-280 in conference play.
•He entered the 2020 season ranking 47th among active in Division II?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.
 
            2020 SMSU TEAM PREVIEW
•The 2020 32-player roster features 22 returning letter winners from last season's team that finished 11-27 overall, including 10-23 in NSIC play.
•The 2020 roster also includes five junior college transfers, who are expected to contribute this spring.
•SMSU returns nearly all of its top hitters from last season, including senior outfielder Tanner Strommen, who batted .278 with a team-high 35 base hits.
•Senior first baseman Brady Lanoue batted .271 with four doubles and three home runs.
•The team's home run leader from a season ago, senior outfielder Ben Heichel, also returns after clubbing seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
•Junior third baseman Jake Hendricks led the team with 22 RBIs and also had a team-high 10 doubles.
•Senior shortstop Nathan Kuhn finished with seven doubles and coaxed a team-leading 19 walks, while batting .258.
•The pitching staff will feature several upper classmen to lead the way this spring.
•Senior righty Justin Clark returns after missing nearly the entire 2019 season with an injury. He tossed a team-high 54.1 innings and finished 3-4 with a 4.80 ERA with two complete games and 61 strikeouts in 2018.
•Junior left-hander John Bezdicek led the team last season with 57 strikeouts and recorded a 2-5 mark with a 4.18 ERA in 51 2/3 innings.
•Junior left-hander Teddy Broxterman also returns after appearing in a team-high 14 games and finishing with a 5.87 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 23 innings and five saves.   
•Junior righty Spencer Schroeder made seven starts in 2019 and finished 2-2 with a 3.73 ERA in 41 innings, while recording two complete games.
 
          MUSTANG DIAMOND NOTES
•Tanner Strommen led the team with 10 multi-hit games last season.
•Ben Heichel led the club with seven home runs and finished with 20 RBIs. His seven home runs in conference play tied for sixth in the NSIC.
•Jake Hendricks hit a team-leading 10 doubles with four home runs and a team-high 22 RBIs in 2019.
•Hendricks finished last season with a team-leading six multi-RBI games, while Hendricks and Brady Lanoue each finished with five.
•Left-hander John Bezdicek finished the 2019 season 2-5 with two complete games, a team-leading 57 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings and compiled a 4.18 ERA.  
•Bezdicek's 14 strikeouts in seven innings at Upper Iowa last March 31, tied for the highest single-game total in the NSIC last season. He ranked fifth in the conference with 52 strikeouts and is 10th in ERA (2.32).
•Bezdicek was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on April 2, 2019, 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 10.45. He also ranks 17th in team history in career ERA at 4.25 (min. 70 innings).
•Right-hander Spencer Schroeder made eight appearances with seven starts and finished 2-2 with a 3.73 ERA in 41 innings with 23 strikeouts.
•Left-hander Teddy Broxterman pitched in a team-high 14 games with one start and recorded a team-leading five saves which also ranked tied for second in the NSIC.
•Senior right-hander Justin Clark started two games last season but missed 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.
 
            MUSTANGS AT HOME
•SMSU is scheduled to play its home games at Legion Field this season with its first home appearance set for March 25. The Mustangs are scheduled to play 20 home games this spring.
 
            NSIC SCHEDULE
•For the second straight season, all NSIC weekend series will be three-game sets. The teams will play one seven and one nine-inning game the first day and will close the series with a nine-inning game the following day.
•All weekday match-ups will be doubleheaders with one seven-inning game and one nine-inning game.
 
            SMSU PICKED 12TH IN NSIC POLL
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish 12th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•SMSU junior left-handed pitcher Jon Bezdicek and senior shortstop Nathan Kuhn were both named "Players to Watch" in the conference this season.           
•Augustana was chosen as the preseason favorite.
 
            MUSTANG BASEBALL HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 51st season of baseball and has an all-time record of 959-1,086-3 in 2,048 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.
 
            MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
            NEXT UP
•Southwest Minnesota State will play Minnesota Duluth in a non-conference doubleheader at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 27 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It will be SMSU's first-ever appearance at the stadium.