THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (0-3) continues non-conference play on Thursday with a doubleheader versus the University of Minnesota Duluth (0-0) at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis with game one set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
ENTRANCE INTO US BANK STADIUM
•All fans must enter at the Lower Pentair gate (off South 6th Street). NO ENTRANCE VIA LEGACY GATE OR SKYWAY OR ANY OTHER GATE. Fans will then proceed to sit in sections 126 – 130. Tickets are $5 at the door (children 2 & under are free). Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the day's first game. Outside food and drink is prohibited in U.S. Bank Stadium.
GAME COVERAGE
•Live statistics and video for the two games will be available at smsumustangs.com.
•Updates can also be found by following @smsubaseball on Twitter.
SERIES HISTORY
•SMSU and UMD meet for the 126
th and 127
th time on Thursday with UMD leading 65-60.
•SMSU won both meetings last season at Legion Field in Marshall by scores of 8-4 and 9-3.
•Last season's victories snapped a six-game winning streak in the series for UMD.
•The two teams last played inside in Minneapolis on Feb. 23, 2012, at the Metrodome with SMSU sweeping a doubleheader.
ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH
•The Bulldogs will be playing their first games of the season on Thursday after finishing 16-33 overall, 12-14 NSIC, last season.
•UMD was picked to finish 11
th in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll.
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 529-506-2, 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.
MUSTANG DIAMOND NOTES
•SMSU opened the season last weekend losing all three games of a three-game series at No. 17 Missouri Southern State. SMSU held strong during the series either holding the lead or was tied in the fifth inning or later in every game.
•SMSU led 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth in game three, but MSSU tied the game with a solo homer and then won the game in the 11
th inning with a two-run home run.
•
Kip Gronholz finished the series with a team-high four hits, while
Brady Lanoue and
Matt Bezdicek each collected three hits.
•Lanoue led the team with a pair of solo home runs and finished with three RBIs.
•
John Bezdicek was solid in the opener, tossing five innings and allowing two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts.
•
Jeremiah Van De Steeg was outstanding in game three as he tossed seven shutout innings and allowed just two hits with eight strikeouts.
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.
•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.
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 959-1,089-3 in 2,051 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 travel to Tucson, Ariz., for seven games from March 5-11. SMSU opens the trip on March 5 with a non-conference game versus Concordia-St. Paul.
