PREVIEWING THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (2-3, 1-2 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this Thursday with a doubleheader at nationally-ranked Augustana University (6-1, 2-1 NSIC) at Karras Park Home of Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, S.D. Game one is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.
•The doubleheader was delayed one day due to rain in the forecast for Wednesday.
•Augustana is ranked No. 4 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Top 25 poll and was ranked No. 18 in last week's NCBWA Top 25 poll.
•Following Thursday's two games, SMSU will play a four-game series at Wayne State on Saturday and Sunday. The first three games of the series will be NSIC games, while the final game on Sunday will be a non-conference game.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for Thursday's doubleheader will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            ABOUT AUGUSTANA
•Augustana, the preseason pick to win the NSIC, is 6-1 overall, 2-1 NSIC, after winning two of three at home last weekend from St. Cloud State to open conference play.
•Augustana head coach Tim Huber is in his 13^th season at Augustana. Huber was an assistant coach at SMSU for two seasons from 2003-04.
•JT Mix leads the Vikings batting .500 (10 for 20) with one double, one triple and four RBIs, while Sam Baier is hitting .450 with a home run and four RBIs.
•Through seven games, AU is batting .323, averaging 8.1 runs per game and have a team ERA of 3.26 in 58 innings with 76 strikeouts.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. AUGUSTANA
•SMSU and AU have meet 103 times since the 1980 season with AU holding a 58-45 all-time advantage.
•Since the 2014 season, Augustana has won 19 of the last 20 games, with SMSU's lone win coming on May 7, 2016.
•AU has won the last six games, including 7-1 and 15-5, in the last meeting on April 3, 2019, in Sioux Falls.
 
            SMSU HEAD COACH
•Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 25^th season as head coach and has an overall record of 537-511-2, including 305-282 in conference play.
•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.
 
            SMSU DIAMOND NOTES
•SMSU opened NSIC play last weekend losing two of three games at Upper Iowa. SMSU won the opener 7-4 on Saturday, but lost the final two games of the series by one-run, despite holding big leads in both games. UIU rallied from a 4-0 deficit to win game two on Saturday, 5-4, then came back from a 6-0 deficit on Sunday to win 7-6.
•SMSU hit .215 in the three-game series with four doubles and two home runs.
•Nathan Kuhn batted .455 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs.
•Jake Hendricks belted a two-run homer in game one and finished the weekend with four RBIs.
•Matt Bezdicek also hit a home run in the series and closed the weekend with four RBIs.
•Jake Wensmann picked up the victory in the opener tossing four-plus innings and striking out one.
•Jared Tschetter recorded the save in the win on Saturday.
•Teddy Broxterman pitched 3 1/3 innings in game two on Saturday and allowed just one unearned run.
•Kolby Kiser made his first career start on Sunday and fired three shutout innings.
 
            SMSU SEASON NUMERS
•Through give games, SMSU is averaging 5.4 runs per game, batting .260 with 13 doubles and three home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 4.34 ERA in 37 1/3 innings with 46 strikeouts.
•Nathan Kuhn is batting a team-high .474 with a team-high four doubles and tied for the team-lead with 13 total bases.
•Matt Bezdicek is hitting .313 with two doubles and two home runs and has a team-high seven RBIs.
•Jake Wensmann is 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in seven innings with six strikeouts.
•John Bezdicek has pitched a team-high 7 2/3 innings with a team-high 15 strikeouts.
 
            MUSTANG TIE TEAM RECORD
•SMSU's nine doubles in a game two victory at Briar Cliff on March 10 tied a program record. SMSU also collected nine doubles versus Minnesota Duluth on March 15, 2009, and versus Minot State on March 29, 2015.
 
            BEZDICEK EARNS NSIC PITCHER OF THE WEEK HONORS
•Left-hander John Bezdicek was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on March 15 following his season-opening start versus Briar Cliff University on March 10.
•Bezdicek pitched three innings in the opener and was dominate in his short appearance. He faced 10 batters and recorded eight strikeouts, while allowing one walk.
 
            MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
            NSIC SCHEDULE
•For the third 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 is scheduled to play 36 conference games.
 
            MUSTANGS IN THE SMSU CAREER RECORD BOOK
•John Bezdicek ranks first in team history in strikeouts per nine innings (11.5) and sixth in strikeouts (162).
•Teddy Broxterman is tied for sixth in saves (6).
 
            BEZDICEK EARNS 2020 ACADEMIC HONOR
•John Bezdicek was named CoSIDA Academic All-District following the 2020 season.
 
            NEW FORMAT FOR 2021 NSIC TOURNAMENT
•The NSIC Tournament will have a new look this season over two weekends in the month of May. The top eight teams will qualify for the tournament with the top four seeds hosting a best 2-out-3 series from May 13-16.
•The final four teams remaining will advance to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a double-elimination tournament on May 20-23 at Karras Park on the campus of Augustana and Sioux Falls Stadium
•The champion of the tournament will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
            SMSU PICKED 12^TH IN NSIC POLL
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish 12^th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Mustang junior John Bezdicek was named a "Pitcher to Watch", while senior infielder Nathan Kuhn was named a "Player to Watch" in the NSIC this spring.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 52^nd season of baseball in 2021.
•SMSU has played 2,064 games compiling an all-time record of 967-1,094-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.