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Mustang Baseball Travels to North Dakota for NSIC Series at Mary
Redshirt freshman Andy Williamson rips a hit during last weekend's series versus Winona State
3/26/2008 12:51:57 PM
Complete Release (PDF)
Southwest This Week: The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (10-8, 2-2 NSIC) continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this weekend with a four-game series at the University of Mary (5-12, 4-0 NSIC) in Bismarck, N.D. Doubleheaders on both Saturday, Mar. 29 and Sunday, Mar. 30 will be begin at 12 p.m. on the campus of the University of Mary.
SMSU begins the weekend 2-2 in the NSIC after splitting a four-game series versus Winona State in the Metrodome last weekend. Mary is atop the NSIC standings after sweeping a four-game set from Northern State at the Metrdome. SMSU was scheduled to open its home season on Tuesday, Mar. 25 versus St. Cloud State but the game was cancelled due to wet field conditions in Marshall.
Keeping Up With the Mustangs: For the latest news, roster information, game statistics and season statistics log onto to the official Web site of SMSU athletics www.SMSUmustangs.com. Live statistics will also be available for all home games in 2008.
Mustang Diamond Notes: The following are quick notes on SMSU baseball...
•SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard recorded his 300th career victory on Mar. 2 at Pittsburg State
•SMSU now has an all-time record of 73-46 in 12 years playing at the Gene Cusic Classic.
•Senior shortstop Lex Reinke ranks fourth all-time with 349 assists
•Junior Josh Nolan has three triples this season and is just two shy of tying the school single season record
•Junior Jake Munsch and sophomore Andrew Kinney lead the team with six multi-RBI games
•Reinke, Kinney, Nolan and Derick Swenson lead the team with eight multi-hit games.
•Swenson is currently on a team-high five-game hitting streak.
•Reinke now ranks among the top 10 in two career offensive categories (see chart page two)
Series History: Southwest Minnesota State leads the all-time series versus Mary 3-1. SMSU won three of four games last season in Bismarck, N.D. The series was orginally scheduled to be played in Marshall but was moved due to rain in the Marshall area.
Mustangs Open NSIC Season 2-2: SMSU opened conference play with a four-game split with Winona State University at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Sophomore Derick Swenson led the Mustang offense in the four games finishing 7-for-15 with four doubles and four RBI while recording two stolen bases. Junior Greg Laughlin was 6-for-13 withe one double and three RBI. Junior Derek West had two doubles and hit the only home run of the series while adding four RBI. Senior reliever Brandon Wilhelmi had a solid weekend appearing in three games and finishing 1-0 with one save in five innings allowing just one walk while striking out five. Sophomore Jared Pick earned the victory in game two tossing 5.2 innings allowing just one earned run while striking out four.
NCBWA Regional Poll: Southwest Minnesota State is ranked No. 6 in the week’s National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Central region poll. The poll is voted by selected sports information directors in the region. This poll is not the official NCAA poll that determines the NCAA regional tournament field in May. The poll can be found at http://www.wildcatsports.com/baseball/ncbwa/#regional
NCAA Statistics: The following is where SMSU and Mustang individuals rank among the top 50 in the first NCAA national statitics released on Wednesday. SMSU: Slugging percentage (22nd, .517), triples per game (24th, 0.44), doubles per game (31st, 2.22), batting average (34th, .336), scoring (40th, 8.0), home runs per game (40th, 0.89).
Individuals: Derick Swenson (6th, runs per game, 1.56), Josh Nolan (27th, triples per game, 0.17), Josh Nolan (32nd, triples, 3), Derek West (52nd, home runs per game, 0.28), Andrew Kinney (64th, RBI per game, 1.22), Lex Reinke (97th, doubles per game, 0.39), Swenson (97th, doubles per game, 0.39), Swenson (95th, batting average, .418)
The complete national statistics can be found at www.ncaasports.com
Smith Named NSIC Pitcher of the Week: Freshman Curtis Smith was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 18 for his performance last week in Ft. Myers, Fla.
Smith tossed a three-hit shutout in his first career start in SMSU’s 8-0 victory over Lock Haven University (Pa.) on Mar. 20 in Ft. Myers, Fla. He struck out three batters, walked one and allowed just three singles in his seven innings of work. He finished SMSU’s 10-game Florida trip with a 2-0 record while not allowing a run in 11 innings pitched. He pitched four innings of shutout relief to earn the victory in SMSU’s 4-3 victory over University of Charleston (W.Va.) on Mar. 9 allowing four hits while striking out four and walking one.
Mustangs Picked to Finish Third in NSIC Preseason Poll: Southwest Minnesota State was picked to finish in third place in the preseason NSIC coaches’ poll. Defending league champion Wayne State was picked to win the league with 78 points, three ahead of second place Winona State (75). WSC earned six first place votes (coaches can’t vote for their own team) while Winona State was checked for the remaining three first place votes. SMSU finished with 57 points, two ahead of Upper Iowa and Mary who were picked to finish fourth with 55 points. Concordia (54), Bemidji State (39), Northern State (31) and Minnesota, Crookston (24) rounded out the poll.
Home Sweet Home: Southwest Minnesota State is scheduled to play 20 home games at Alumni Field this year. The Mustangs will have their home opener on Mar. 25 versus St. Cloud State before hosting Northern State in the NSIC home opener on Apr. 2. A season ago SMSU played just six home games and didn’t play at home until Apr. 25. SMSU’s first 32 games were played outside of Marshall. The Mustangs have played home games exclusively at Alumni Field since the 2003 season and have compiled a record of 46-18 during that stretch.
Mustang Success in the NSIC: Southwest Minnesota State has had tremendous success in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in recent years. SMSU has finished either first, second or third place in the league standings in 13 of the last 15 seasons and hasn’t finished lower than fourth place since the 1989 season.
The 2008 season marks the 39th year that SMSU has competed in the NSIC compiling an all-time record of 367-326 in 700 conference games. SMSU has won four conference championships and has finished second in the conference standings seven times. SMSU has a current streak of 15 straight years of recording a winning record in conference play.
Returning All-NSIC Honorees: Southwest Minnesota State returns a pair of second team All-NSIC players from last season. Senior shortstop Lex Reinke and sophomore pitcher Adam Schrader both received second team accolades in 2007. Schrader was the only SMSU player last season to earn NSIC pitcher or player of the week honors. Schrader earned the award twice during the month of March.
Laughlin Earns Award: Junior second baseman Greg Laughlin was named second team academic all-district by ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA in 2007.
Mustangs Sign Four Players: SMSU head coach Paul Blanchard announced that four players from Ridgewater College in Willmar have signed letters of intent to play for the Mustangs in 2009. The list includes infielders Brian Ness and Matt Bauer along with pitchers Brad Haag and Mike Locnikar.
Northern Sun Conference Schedule for 2008: The Northern Sun Conference is scheduled to play a 32-game schedule in 2008 for the second straight season. The nine teams in the NSIC will play each team in the conference four times for a league schedule of 32 games. One change this season will be that the top six teams in the conference standings, up from four previously, will compete in the NSIC tournament hosted by the regular season champion. The winner of the NSIC tournament will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA regional. It will be the first time six teams have competed in the NSIC tournament since 1998.
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