PREVIEWING THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team opens its 53^rd season of play this week with five games in three different states.  
•SMSU opens the season on Tuesday with a doubleheader at Briar Cliff University (1-5) in Sioux City, Iowa, starting at 1 p.m.
•SMSU will then take on Minnesota Duluth in a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis with game one starting at 10 a.m.
•The Mustangs will then head to Tucson, Ariz., and play the first of eight games on Sunday at the Tucson Invitational. SMSU will play a single nine-inning game versus Jamestown (N.D.) starting at 12 p.m. CST.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats for all games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
•Live video is expected for the games versus BCU and UMD this week at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
ABOUT BRIAR CLIFF
•Briar Cliff is 1-5 on the season and lost all three games at Bellevue (Neb.) this past weekend.
•BCU third-year head coach Corby McGlauflin, was a relief pitcher for four seasons at SMSU from 2010-13. He appeared in 45 games and finished with a 6-5 record with a 4.02 ERA in 69 1/3 innings.
•BCU was picked to finish fourth in the 11-team Great Plains Athletic Conference.
•Through six games, BCU is batting .224 and has a team ERA of 7.50.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. BRIAR CLIFF
•SMSU and BCU have meet 13 times since the 1980 season with SMSU holding a 7-6 advantage.
•SMSU opened the last season at BCU with the Chargers taking game one, 3-2, before SMSU earned an 8-3 victory in game two.
 
ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH
•UMD will be playing its first games of the season on Thursday.
•UMD finished the 2021 season with a record of 17-23 overall, 14-20 NSIC.
•UMD, under the direction of Bob Rients, now in his 17^th season as head coach, was picked to finish 13^th in the NSIC preseason poll.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA DULUTH
•SMSU and UMD have meet 129 times since the 1977 season with UMD holding a 67-62 advantage, including winning twice last season in Duluth in conference play.
•The teams split a pair of games at US Bank Stadium on Feb. 27, 2020.
 
ABOUT JAMESTOWN
•Jamestown is 6-5 overall with seven of the games played during the fall season. The Jimmies split a four-game series at Bethany College (Kan.) this past weekend.  
•UMD finished the 2021 season with a record of 17-23 overall, 14-20 NSIC.
•UMD, under the direction of Bob Rients, now in his 17^th season as head coach, was picked to finish 13^th in the NSIC preseason poll.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. JAMESTOWN
•SMSU and UJ have meet six times since the 1980 season with each team winning three times.
•The last four games have all been played in Tucson with Jamestown winning once in both 2016 and 2018, while SMSU swept a doubleheader during the 2017 season.
 
SMSU HEAD COACH
•Paul Blanchard, the all-time leader in victories at SMSU, is in his 26^th season as head coach and has an overall record of 547-530-2, including 314-301 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.
 
            2022 SMSU TEAM PREVIEW
•The 2022 Mustang baseball team will look to change its fortunes from a season ago when the team finished 12-22 overall, but played numerous close games all season long.
•The 2021 Mustang squad lost 11 games by either one-run or in extra-innings, while losing three more games by two runs. The team showed it could compete with the top teams, including earning two victories or nationally-ranked teams.
•The 2022 Mustangs will be a young squad featuring just two seniors and four juniors on the roster.
•Offensively, SMSU must replace its top three hitters from last season, but return sophomore Chase McDaniel, who along with his .282 average, led the team with seven stolen bases. Also back is junior third baseman/outfielder Kip Gronholz, who started 33 games last season and batted .255 with five doubles and 17 RBIs.
•The Mustangs also return five other players who made 10 or more starts a season ago. Sophomore third baseman Max Kalenberg collected three doubles, one home run and 16 RBIs in 21 games in 2021, while junior second baseman Keenan Wenzel had a home run, a double and six RBIs in 20 games.
•Senior outfielders Andy Andresen and Robbie Smith combined to mark 30 games in 2021, while sophomore first baseman Jaxon Haase started 10 games before suffering a season-ending injury. 
 •The SMSU pitching staff returns several pitchers who gained valuable experience a season ago. Sophomore left-hander Kobe Lovell appeared in a team-high 15 games and struck out 16 batters in 19 2/3 innings with a 4.12 ERA. Sophomore right-hander Kolby Kiser made five appearances with four starts and compiled a 4.58 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. Another sophomore righty, Hayden Molva, made eight appearances with five starts and finished with a 4.82 ERA in 28 innings with 28 strikeouts. Sophomore Ansen Dulas pitched in six games with four starts and earned one victory, while striking out 18 in 19 2/3 innings.
 
          MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
        NSIC SCHEDULE
•For the fourth 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 starting on March 19-20 at Wayne State.
 
            NSIC TOURNAMENT BACK TO SIOUX FALLS
•The 2022 NSIC Tournament will be held in May 11-14 in Sioux Falls, S.D., at Karras Park on the campus of Augustana and Sioux Falls Stadium.
•The top eight teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the tournament with the champion earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
            SMSU PICKED 15TH IN NSIC POLL
•Southwest Minnesota State University was picked to finish 15^th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Mustang freshman Ryan Chmielewski was named a "Pitcher to Watch", while sophomore shortstop Chase McDaniel was named a "Player to Watch" in the NSIC this spring.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 53^rd season of baseball in 2021.
•SMSU has played 2,093 games compiling an all-time record of 977-1,113-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.