PREVIEWING THE WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (11-18, 9-17 NSIC) returns to the diamond on Thursday with a doubleheader (7-9) starting at 10 a.m. versus the University of Minnesota Duluth (10-20, 7-17 NSIC) at Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minn.
•The two-game series was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was moved to Thursday due to poor field conditions on UMD's campus field.
•SMSU, which is 4-4 in it last three conference series, will return home this Saturday and Sunday with a three-game series versus the University of Mary at Legion Field.
 
GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for Thursday's games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH
•UMD is 10-20 overall, 7-17 NSIC, after dropping two of three games at the University of Mary last weekend.
•Brandt Kolpack leads the Bulldogs batting .337 (32 for 95) with three doubles and nine RBIs.
•Henry George is hitting .333 (34 for 102) with a team-high eight doubles and 11 RBIs.
•Through 30 games, UMD is batting .270, with 42 doubles, seven home runs, averaging 4.6 runs per game and have a team ERA of 7.05 in 231 innings with 195 strikeouts.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA DULUTH
•SMSU and UMD have meet 127 times since the first meeting in 1977 with UMD holding a slight 65-62 advantage.
•The two teams split a non-conference doubleheader last season at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Feb. 27.
•In the last NSIC match-up, SMSU swept a doubleheader at Legion Field in Marshall on April 24, 2019, by scores of 8-4 and 9-3.   
 
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 546-526-2, including 313-297 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 has earned two wins over nationally-ranked teams this season with both coming on the road. SMSU earned a 10-8 win at No. 19 Augustana and an 8-7, 10-inning win at No. 24 Minnesota Crookston.    
•SMSU has lost nine one-run games this season, including eight in NSIC play.
•In SMSU's last action, the Mustangs lost two of three games at Minot State. SMSU won 5-4 in eight innings in game one of the series, before MSU scored two runs in the bottom of eighth in game two for a 5-4 extra inning victory.
•Hayden Molva struck out a career-high 10 in a 5-3 loss at Minnesota Crookston last Thursday.
•Ansen Dulas recorded a career-high seven strikeouts in a no-decision at Minnesota-Crookston.
•In his last nine games, Derek Smith has raised his batting average more than 100 points, hitting .517 (15 for 29) with three home runs, three doubles and eight RBIs.
•Nathan Kuhn ranks sixth in the NSIC (league games only) in batting average at .398 (37 of 93).
•John Bezdicek leads the NSIC in strikeouts per nine innings (12.5). He has struck out 10 more batters in three of five starts.
•SMSU ranks fifth in the NSIC in fielding percentage (.966).
 
SMSU SEASON NUMBERS
•Through 29 games, SMSU is averaging 5.6 runs per game, batting .270 with 42 doubles and 19 home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 6.17 ERA in 223 2/3 innings with 226 strikeouts. SMSU has a staff ERA of 5.02 minus two losses to Concordia-St. Paul (20-6) and Minot State (24-7).
•Nathan Kuhn is batting a team-high .406 (41 of 101) with a team-high seven doubles and team-high 17 walks. He has a team-high 11 multi-hit games and has collected at least one hit in 23 of 28 games played.
•Derek Smith is second on the team hitting .307 (27 of 88) with four doubles and three home runs.
•Matt Bezdicek is hitting .293 (29 of 99) with six doubles, four home runs and has a team-high 25 RBIs. He leads the team with eight multi-RBI games and is second with 10 multi-hit games.
•Jake Hendricks has a team-high six home runs, 20 RBIs and is hitting .260 (26 of 100).
•Kip Gronholz is batting .286 (26 for 91) with five doubles and 14 RBIs.
•John Bezdicek has pitched a team-high 41 2/3 innings with a team-high 62 strikeouts. He is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA with one shutout and three complete games.
•Kobe Lovell has a 4.70 ERA in 15 1/3 innings while appearing in 12 games.
•Hayden Molva has made six appearances with four starts and has a 4.29 ERA in 21 innings with 25 strikeouts.
•Jake Wensmann has two victories in seven starts and has recorded 24 strikeouts in 29 innings.
•Kolby Kiser has appeared in four games with three starts and has a 2.57 ERA in 14 innings with nine strikeouts.
•Teddy Broxterman has pitched in eight games, has a 5.12 ERA and is third on the squad with 15 strikeouts.
•Jared Tschetter has appeared in 12 games and has two wins, three saves with a 3.18 ERA in 11 1/3 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 third in strikeouts (209). Chris Pack (1995-98) ranks second all-time with 224, while Adam Schrader (2006-10) holds the record with 244.
•Shawn Williams ranks fourth in appearances (53).
•Teddy Broxterman is tied for sixth in saves (6).
 
BEZDICEK EARNS 2020 ACADEMIC HONOR
•John Bezdicek was named 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District.
 
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 2,080 games compiling an all-time record of 976-1,109-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.