PREVIEWING WEDNESDAY
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (8-13, 1-8 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Wednesday with a doubleheader versus Minnesota State University (16-4, 9-2 NSIC) in Sioux City, Iowa. The two games will be played at Bishop Muller Field on the campus of Briar Cliff University.
•The games were scheduled to be played at Legion Field in Marshall, but were moved due to poor weather and field conditions in Marshall.
•SMSU has now had four games canceled and five games relocated during NSIC play due to poor weather.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats and video for both games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA STATE
•SMSU and MSU have met 76 times since the first meeting in 1973 with MSU holding a 66-10 all-time advantage.
•MSU has won 32 of the last 33 games since the 2010 season. SMSU defeated MSU on May 14, 2009, at the NCAA Tournament in Grand Junction, Colo. SMSU's only victory since then occurred on March 21, 2014, in Sioux City, Iowa.
 
ABOUT MINNESOTA STATE
•MSU is 16-4 overall, 9-2 NSIC, and has won five straight games, including sweeping a three-game series versus Minnesota Duluth last weekend in Mankato
•Matt Magers is in his 14th season as head coach of the Mavericks.
•Through 20 games, MSU is batting .326, averaging 9.6 runs per game and have a team ERA of 2.78 in 165 innings with 207 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 555-543-2, including 315-309 in conference play.
•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 21 games, SMSU is averaging 6.0 runs per game, batting .308 with 38 doubles, eight triples and 11 home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has an 8.67 ERA in 155 2/3 innings with 146 strikeouts.
•Sophomore Isaac Nett is hitting .406 with three doubles and three home runs with a team-leading 18 RBIs. He leads the club with six stolen bases and earlier this season had an 11-game hitting streak. He ranks second on the club with eight multi-hit games.
•Sophomore Chase McDaniel is batting a .387 with one double, one triple and five stolen bases. He has a team-leading 10 multi-hit games.
•Sophomore Jaxon Haase is batting .354 with five doubles and 14 RBIs. He reached base in a team-leading 16 straight games earlier this season.
•Freshman Owen Latendresse has belted a team-high four home runs, ranks second on the team with 16 RBIs and is hitting .333 with eight multi-hit games.
•Junior Keenan Wenzel is tied for the team-lead with five doubles and his batting .391.
•Freshman Caleb Gardow is batting .317 with four doubles and home run.
•Sophomore Kobe Lovell is 1-0 in five relief appearances with a 3.00 ERA in 11 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts.
•Senior Andy Andresen has appeared in seven games and has a 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings with one save.
•Freshman Ryan Chmielewski has two victories in a team-high 30 innings with 22 strikeouts.
 
          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 but has had four games canceled as of April 1.
 
            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 2,114 games compiling an all-time record of 985-1,126-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.