PREVIEWING THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (7-5) opens Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this Saturday and Sunday with a three-game series at Wayne State College (6-7) in Wayne, Neb. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:30 p.m. with Sunday's game starting at 12 p.m.
•For the fourth straight season, the first day of a weekend conference series will feature one seven and one nine-inning game, while the final day will feature one nine-inning game.
•SMSU's current five-game winning streak is its longest since the 2018 season. SMSU's last six-game winning streak came during the 2014 season when the team won seven in a row.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats and video for all games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. WAYNE STATE
•SMSU and WSC have meet 84 times since the 1974 season with WSC holding a 57-27 all-time advantage.
•The teams split a four-game series last season in Wayne, with WSC winning two of the three NSIC games, while SMSU won the non-conference game played in the four-game series.
•Prior to last season, WSC had won the previous 15 games since the 2015 season.
 
            ABOUT WAYNE STATE
•WSC enters the weekend with a 6-7 overall record. The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll.  
•Alex Logelin is batting .340 in 13 games with five doubles and three home runs.
•Andrew Hanson has played in eight games and is hitting .375 with four doubles and a pair of home runs.
•For the season, WSC is batting .278, averaging 6.8 runs per game and have a team ERA of 7.27 in 104 innings with 80 strikeouts.
 
            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 554-535-2, 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.
 
            SMSU SEASON NUMBERS
•Through 12 games, SMSU is averaging 7.6 runs per game, batting .343 with 23 doubles, seven triples and three home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has a 7.12 ERA in 91 innings with 94 strikeouts.
•Sophomore Chase McDaniel is batting a team-high .463 with one double and five stolen bases.
•Sophomore Isaac Nett is hitting .444 with one double and one home runs with a team-leading 13 RBIs. He leads the club with six stolen bases and is currently on an eight-game hitting streak.
•Sophomore Jaxon Haase is batting .441 with four doubles and 11 RBIs. He has a team-leading .568 on-base percentage and has reached base in 10 straight games.
•Freshman Owen Latendresse has a team-high two home runs with 11 RBIs and is hitting .425.
•Redshirt freshman Jake Tauer had an eight-game hitting streak earlier this season and is batting .303.
•Latendresse and McDaniel lead the team with seven multi-hit games.
•Sophomore Kobe Lovell is 1-0 in three relief appearances with a 0.00 ERA in 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts.
•Senior Andy Andresen has appeared in four games and has a 0.00 ERA in 3 2/3 innings with one save.
•Sophomore Kolby Kiser has started three games and has pitched a team-high 13 1/3 innings with a team-high 21 strikeouts. He has recorded seven strikeouts in all three starts this season.
•Freshman Cameron Jensen has one victory and one save in 7 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts.
 
            SMSU DIAMOND NOTES
•SMSU finished its spring trip to Tucson, Ariz., with a 6-2 record. It's the program's best spring break trip since finishing 8-4 in 2014.
•Sophomore Ansen Dulas recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in six innings in a victory over Emerson College on March 8.
•Sophomore Brady Brosz retired two batters to earn his first career save versus Carthage on March 13.
•Freshman Ryan Chmielewski earned his first career victory firing six innings versus Jamestown on March 12.
•Junior Robbie Smith stole three bases versus Emerson on March 8. He is the first Mustang player since Andy Cook in 2006 to steal three in a single game.
 
          MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and single-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 2,105 games compiling an all-time record of 984-1,118-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.