PREVIEWING THE WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (11-20, 9-19 NSIC) looks to snap a four-game losing skid hosting the University of Mary (15-16, 12-12 NSIC) for a three-game series at Legion Field in Marshall.
•Saturday's doubleheader (7-9) begins at 1:30 p.m. with Sunday's game set with first pitch at 12 p.m.
•It will be the final three-game home series for SMSU this season.
•Prior to Sunday's game, the SMSU baseball program will honor its 14 seniors.
•SMSU will conclude the season next Wednesday hosting Northern State, before closing the season with a three-game series at St. Cloud State on May 7-8.
 
GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for all three games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
ABOUT UMARY
•UMary is 15-16 overall, 12-12 NSIC, after losing two games at Bemidji State, 6-4 and 13-8, on Wednesday.
•Calvin James leads the Marauders batting .339 (37 for 109) with 10 doubles, six home runs and 25 RBIs.
•Derek Shoen is hitting .321 (34 for 106) with eight doubles and five home runs.
•Through 31 games, UMary is batting .255, with 45 doubles, 35 home runs, averaging 5.4 runs per game and have a team ERA of 6.16 in 238 1/3 innings with 245 strikeouts.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. UMARY
•SMSU and UMary have meet 31 times since the first meeting in 2007 with SMSU holding a 22-9 advantage.
•UMary won two of three games in Bismarck, N.D., on April 26-27, in the last meeting.  
•SMSU swept a four-game series versus UMary in 2017 during the last games played in Marshall.   
 
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 546-528-2, including 313-299 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 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.    
•Following SMSU's 6-5 loss to Minnesota Duluth on Thursday, SMSU has lost 10 one-run games this season, including nine in NSIC play.
•In his last 11 games, Derek Smith has raised his batting average more than 100 points, hitting .485 (17 for 35) with three home runs, four doubles and eight RBIs.
•Nathan Kuhn ranks seventh in the NSIC (league games only) in batting average at .386 (39 of 101).
•John Bezdicek ranks second in the NSIC in strikeouts per nine innings (12.5). He has struck out 10 more batters in three of five starts.
•SMSU ranks third in the NSIC in fielding percentage (.968).
 
SMSU SEASON NUMBERS
•Through 31 games, SMSU is averaging 5.4 runs per game, batting .269 with 43 doubles and 19 home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 6.22 ERA in 238 2/3 innings with 233 strikeouts.
•Nathan Kuhn is batting a team-high .394 (43 of 109) with a team-high seven doubles and team-high 17 walks. He has a team-leading 12 multi-hit games and has collected at least one hit in 24 of 30 games played.
•Derek Smith is second on the team hitting .309 (29 of 94) with five doubles and three home runs.
•Matt Bezdicek is hitting .291 (30 of 103) 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.
•Chase McDaniel ranks third in batting average at .296 (29 for 98).
•Jake Hendricks has a team-high six home runs and is second with 20 RBIs.
•Kip Gronholz is batting .271 (26 for 96) 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 4.15 ERA in 17 1/3 innings while appearing in a team-high 13 games.
•Hayden Molva has made seven appearances with four starts and has a 4.37 ERA in 22 2/3 innings with 26 strikeouts.
•Jake Wensmann has two victories in seven starts and has recorded 24 strikeouts in 29 innings.
•Kolby Kiser has appeared in five games with four starts and has a 4.58 ERA in 17 2/3 innings with 11 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 tied for third in appearances (54).
•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 976-1,111-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.