PREVIEWING THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (5-6, 3-4 NSIC) will have its first home games since the 2019 season when the team hosts Concordia-St. Paul (6-8, 2-7 NSIC) this Friday and Saturday for a three-game series at Legion Field in Marshall.
•Friday's doubleheader (7-9) will begin at 1 p.m., while Saturday's nine-inning game starts at 12 p.m.
•SMSU last played in Marshall on May 4, 2019, splitting a doubleheader with St. Cloud State at Legion Field.
 
GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for all three games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
ABOUT CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL
•CSP, picked eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, is 6-8 overall, 2-7 NSIC, following a home loss to St. Cloud State on Tuesday. The Golden Bears enter the weekend on a six-game losing streak.  
•Ryan Bastyr leads the Golden Bears batting .297 (11 for 37) with two doubles and seven RBIs, while Matt Pietsch is hitting .283 (13 for 46) with four doubles.
•Through 14 games, CSP is batting .218, with 22 doubles, three home runs, averaging 3.2 runs per game and have a team ERA of 3.96 in 109 innings with 95 strikeouts.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL
•SMSU and CSP have meet 63 times since the 1981 season with CSP holding a 36-27 all-time advantage. CSP joined the NSIC prior to the 2000 season. 
•This will be CSP's first games in Marshall since April 22, 2015.
•CSP holds 15-5 advantage since the 2016 season.
•The two teams played last season splitting a pair of games in Tucson, Ariz.
 
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 540-514-2, including 307-285 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 split four games at Wayne State last Saturday and Sunday. SMSU lost two of three NSIC games before winning the final game of the series which was considered a non-conference game.
•In the series opener, John Bezdicek fired a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts in seven innings as SMSU won 6-0.
•Matt Bezdicek led the Mustang offense in the win with three hits and three RBIs.
•In the series finale victory, Ansen Dulas won his first career game tossing four innings and allowing one run on four hits with six strikeouts.
•Keenan Wenzel had two hits, an RBI and a run scored in the 7-6 victory.
•John Bezdicek has moved into fifth place in team history with 174 strikeouts. Pat O'Brien (2002-05) and Ryan Morse (2003-05) are tied for third all-time with 190.
 
SMSU SEASON NUMERS
•Through 11 games, SMSU is averaging 5.6 runs per game, batting .258 with 17 doubles and three home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 4.88 ERA in 83 innings with 93 strikeouts.
•Nathan Kuhn is batting a team-high .487 with a team-high five doubles and team-leading 24 total bases. He has a team-high six multi-hit games and has collected at least one hit in nine of 10 games played.
•Matt Bezdicek is hitting .353 with three doubles and two home runs and has a team-high 14 RBIs. He leads the team with five multi-RBI games.
•John Bezdicek has pitched a team-high 14 2/3 innings with a team-high 27 strikeouts. He is 1-0 with a 3.07 ERA with one shutout.
•Jake Wensmann is 2-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 10 1/3 innings with 11 strikeouts.
•Teddy Broxterman has pitched in four games, has a 3.86 ERA and is third on the squad with 10 strikeouts.
•Jared Tschetter has appeared in four games and has two saves with a 0.00 ERA in three innings.  
 
MUSTANGS 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
•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 (11.6) and fifth in strikeouts (174).
•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 2,070 games compiling an all-time record of 970-1,097-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.