PREVIEWING TUESDAY
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (14-24, 7-19 NSIC) begins its final week of the season on Tuesday with a doubleheader (7-9) at the University of Minnesota Duluth (18-22, 12-15 NSIC). The twinbill begins at 12 p.m. and will be played at Wade Stadium in Duluth.
•UMD is currently battling for a spot in the eight-team NSIC Tournament. The Bulldogs are currently in eighth place entering play on Tuesday.
•Following Tuesday's games, SMSU closes the season with a three-game series at Northern State University on Friday and Saturday.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live video and stats for Tuesday's games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA DULUTH
•SMSU and UMD have meet 131 times since the 1977 season with UMD holding a 68-63 advantage.
•The teams split a pair of games earlier this season at US Bank Stadium on March 3 with SMSU winning game one, 5-4, while UMD won game two, 6-4.
•The series is tied 4-4 since the 2019 season. UMD won both games last season at Wade Stadium in NSIC play, 5-1 and 6-5.
 
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 561-554-2, including 321-320 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 & NOTES
•SMSU, which has won five straight and six of its last seven games, swept Bemidji State on Sunday in Marshall, winning 8-7 and 8-1. SMSU won the opener by scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by a two-run walk-off single by Chase McDaniel.
•In game two, Ansen Dulas carried a one-hitter into the ninth inning and finished pitching 8 2/3 innings with a career-high 14 strikeouts.
•Robbie Smith collected a career-high four hits in the game two win over BSU.
•SMSU is averaging five runs per game, batting .285 with 55 doubles, nine triples and 20 home runs.
•The SMSU pitching staff has an 8.15 ERA in 290 1/3 innings with 267 strikeouts.
•Sophomore Jaxon Haase is batting .339 with six doubles, two home runs, ranks second on the team with 26 RBIs and is second with 12 multi-hit games. He reached base in a team-leading 16 straight games earlier this season.
•Junior Keenan Wenzel has a team-leading seven doubles and third in batting at .333.
•Sophomore Isaac Nett is hitting a team-high .357, is tied for first with six doubles, tied for first with five home runs and is the team leader with 27 RBIs. Earlier this season he had an 11-game hitting streak and is third on the team with 11 multi-hit games.
•Sophomore Chase McDaniel is batting a .321 with six doubles, one triple and eight stolen bases. He has a team-high 13 multi-hit games.
•Freshman Owen Latendresse is tied for the team lead with five home runs and is tied for third with 21 RBIs. He suffered an injury on April 27 and will miss the final seven games of the season.
•Sophomore left-hander Kobe Lovell is 1-1 in 11 relief appearances with a 5.40 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with 18 strikeouts.
•Sophomore right-hander Craig Lasley has a 3.00 ERA in 10 appearances with 10 strikeouts. He recorded his first career save and victory in last Wednesday's games versus UMary.
•Freshman righty Brady Petron has pitched 11 1/3 innings in eight games with 13 strikeouts and a 1.59 ERA.
•Senior right-hander Andy Andresen has appeared in 11 games and tossed 10 2/3 innings with one save and one victory.
•Freshman lefty Ryan Chmielewski has a team-high 10 starts and has three victories in a team-high 54 2/3 innings with 41 strikeouts. He tossed a seven-inning complete game four-hitter versus Minnesota Crookston (April 23) allowing zero earned runs while striking out a career-high 11.
•Sophomore righty Kolby Kiser has made 11 appearances and nine starts and leads the team with 40 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings.
•Sophomore right-hander Ansen Dulas has pitched six innings in each of his last three starts. He fired a career-high 8 2/3 innings with a career-high 14 strikeouts versus Bemidji State on May 1. He leads the team with 48 strikeouts.
 
          MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and single-game highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•Southwest Minnesota State is in its 53^rd season of baseball in 2021.
•SMSU has played 2,131 games compiling an all-time record of 991-1,137-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.
 
ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH
•UMD, 18-22 overall, 12-15 NSIC, defeated Minot State with a pair of late-game rallies on Sunday, but lost the series finales on Monday, 11-1.
•UMD is batting .282, averaging 5.6 runs per game and have a team ERA of 7.24 in 306 innings with 246 strikeouts.
•Bob Rients is in his 16th season as head coach of the Bulldogs.