PREVIEWING THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (3-4, 2-3 NSIC) resumes play this Saturday and Sunday with a four-game series versus Wayne State College (3-5, 2-3 NSIC) at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex in Wayne, Neb.
•The two teams will play a four-game series with the first three games counting as conference games followed by a non-conference meeting in game two on Sunday. •Saturday's doubleheader (7-9) will begin at 1:30 p.m., while Sunday's twinbill will start at 12 p.m. Sunday's first game will be nine-innings, while game two will be seven-innings.
•Following the weekend games, SMSU will open its home season facing Concordia-St. Paul next Friday and Saturday at Legion Field.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for all four games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            ABOUT WAYNE STATE
•Wayne State, picked fifth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, is 3-4 overall, 2-3 NSIC, following two losses at home to St. Cloud State on Thursday afternoon.
•Alex Logelin leads the Wildcats batting .433 (13 for 30) with five doubles and three home runs.
•Through eight games, WSC is batting .287, averaging 9.0 runs per game and have a team ERA of 10.62 in 61 innings with 59 strikeouts.
 
                SERIES HISTORY VS. WAYNE STATE
•SMSU and WSC have meet 80 times since the 1974 season with WSC holding a 55-25 all-time advantage.
•WSC has dominated the past five seasons winning the past 15 meetings and 18 of the last 21 since the 2012 season.
•SMSU's only victories in the last 18 games occurred during a three-game sweep in Marshall on April 12-13, 2014.
•SMSU last lost its last five games in Wayne with the last victory coming on May 8, 2011.
 
                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 538-512-2, including 306-283 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 earned a big road split at nationally-ranked Augustana on Thursday, losing the first game 4-3, but bouncing back with a 10-8 win in game two.
•It was SMSU's first win over a Top 25 team since beating No. 10/14 St. Cloud State on May 4, 2019.
•Nathan Kuhn, Brodie Smith and Matt Bezdicek all collected three hits in game two with Smith driving in a career-high three runs.
•SMSU started a pair of true freshmen pitchers in the twinbill with Hayden Molva starting the opener and Kolby Kiser in game two. The duo combined to toss 10-plus innings allowing just two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.
•Spencer Schroeder pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief in game two to pick up the victory.
•SMSU's 10 runs in game two is a season-high, while the 14 hits are the second highest total this season.
•AU won the opener via walk-off in the bottom of the seventh. SMSU tied the game with two outs in the seventh on a Bezdicek two-run single.
•Kuhn had three hits in the loss with Jake Hendricks adding two hits.
 
SMSU SEASON NUMERS
•Through seven games, SMSU is averaging 5.7 runs per game, batting .276 with 13 doubles and three home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 4.58 ERA in 53 innings with 58 strikeouts.
•Nathan Kuhn is batting a team-high .577 with a team-high four doubles and team-leading 19 total bases. Kuhn has a team-high five multi-hit games and has collected at least one hit in all seven games.
•Matt Bezdicek is hitting .375 with two doubles and two home runs and has a team-high 11 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.
 
            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.
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.
 
            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 2,066 games compiling an all-time record of 968-1,095-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.