MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (27-12, 19-10 NSIC) concludes the regular season this Friday and Saturday hosting the University of Minnesota Crookston (33-18, 23-10 NSIC) in a three-game series at Legion Field in Marshall. Friday’s doubleheader will begin at 1:30 p.m. with Saturday’s single game beginning at 12 p.m.

SMSU, which was picked to finish 14th in the NSIC and opened league play with five straight losses, is currently in fifth place in the NSIC standings while UMC is in fourth place. The Mustangs have won six straight games and 12 of its last 14 games to clinch a spot in the eight-team NSIC Tournament on May 10-13 in Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota.

The NSIC Tournament bracket will be announced on Saturday evening. SMSU can’t finish any worse than fifth in the final conference standings and can only move to fourth with a sweep of UMC. SMSU could move as high as third or second place, but would need to sweep this weekend and have both St. Cloud State and Minnesota State lose three games.

SMSU’s 27 victories is the program’s highest since winning 27 in 2014. It was also the last time SMSU qualified for the NSIC Tournament. This is the Mustangs’ 11th time reaching the 27-win mark

UMC leads the NSIC (conference games only) in team batting average (.322) and is first in home runs (57).

Senior Day Saturday

SMSU will honor its four seniors, Jackson Bates, Craig Lasley, Robbie Smith and Keenan Wenzel, in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday.