Aberdeen, S.D.  – The Northern State University baseball team returns home this weekend with a 4-game series against Southwest Minnesota State. Due to rain in the forecast for Sunday, the games have been moved to Friday-Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday from Fossum Field.
 
The Wolves enter the weekend after a mid-week split with Bemidji State on Wednesday falling in the first game 7-5 and coming back with an 8-4 victory in game two. Northern is now 9-15 overall and 2-10 in the NSIC this season. Six Wolves are hitting above .300 this season led by Zach Beatty and Ben Carolin with .381 and .340 averages respectively. Lucas Lorenz leads the team with 25 hits, nine doubles, five homeruns, and 28 RBI in his junior campaign. As a team the Wolves are hitting .280 with 204 hits, 125 runs scored, 35 doubles, eight triples, eight homeruns, and 113 RBI.
 
Thomas Sertic leads the team with three wins, while Luke Chevalier and Nick Hoffard each have two wins. Chevalier leads the team with 36 strikeouts and has a second best 2.34 ERA through 34.2 innings. Nate Zeise has been solid in relief this season with a 1.86 ERA in seven appearances. As a staff the Wolves hold a 5.77 ERA with 119 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .291.
 
About the Mustangs
- Southwest Minnesota State enters the weekend with a 7-15 record overall and 2-10 mark in NSIC action with wins over Concordia-St. Paul and Sioux Falls.
- Tanner Strommen is the lone starter hitting above .300 this season with a .324 mark. He also leads the team with 23 hits followed by Derek Branson with 21.
- As a team the Mustangs are hitting .240 with 157 hits, 87 runs scored, 34 doubles, five triples, nine homeruns, and 77 RBI.
- Cole Petersen leads the SMSU pitching staff with a 4-1 record and 0.40 ERA this season. He is the only Mustang with multiple wins.
- Justin Clark leads the team in strikeouts with 16, as the Mustangs have 94 thus far in 2017.
- The Mustang staff has a 6.32 ERA through 168.0 innings pitched with an opponent batting average of .329.
- SMSU is led by head coach Paul Blanchard in his 21^st season with the program. Blanchard is the all-time wins leader at Southwest with a career record of 486-420-2.
 
Earlier this Season
- The Wolves fell to the Mustangs 3-1 in Tucson in early March notching six hits in the game.
- Ben Allen led the team going 3-for-4 with an RBI.
- Seth Sullwold notched two hits, while Jack Schmidt scored the Wolves lone run.
- Louie Carlos threw 7.2 innings for the Wolves giving up three runs on six hits with three strikeouts.