BRANDON, S.D. – Southwest Minnesota State senior Isaac Nett tied a school record with three home runs in game one and then belted a two-run homer in game two to help the Mustangs earn two wins on Saturday and complete a four-game sweep over Bemidji State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball action.
 
SMSU won game one on Saturday, 13-4, then held on for an 8-6 victory in game two with BSU ending the game with the tying on second base.
 
Nett had a huge four-game series in helping the Mustangs improve to 14-9 overall, 8-7 NSIC. He finished the four games batting 10 for 17 with four home runs and four doubles, while driving in 17 runs and walking four times in game four.
 
SMSU has won eight of its last nine and moves to one-game over .500 in league play after starting the conference losing four straight.
 
Nett is the fourth Mustang to hit three home runs in a game joining Gary Schleper (1986), Patrick Rients (2014) and Tanner Picht (2016).
 
In Saturday's game one, Nett snapped a scoreless game in the third with a three-run home opposite field home run over the left field wall. Two batters later, Owen Latendresse drilled a solo homer to give SMSU a 4-0 advantage.
 
In the fifth, Chase McDaniel started another rally with a double with Nett following with a two-run home to right field. SMSU pushed across another run in the frame as Peyton Nash smacked an RBI double to plate Latendresse.
 
BSU rallied with a three-run rally in the home half of the fifth and had the bases loaded with two outs, but SMSU starting pitcher Ryan Chmielewski worked out of the game with a ground out.
 
Jake Tauer singled in the sixth inning and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Mustangs an 8-3 lead before SMSU put the game away with a five-run seventh inning. With two outs, Caleb Gardow walked and moved to second on a single by Cody Wichmann before Tauer drilled a two-run double to left-center making the score 10-3. Tauer would later score on a throwing error by the BSU catcher before Nett tied the school record with a long home run over the right field fence.
 
SMSU closed the opening game with 12 hits as Nett and Latendresse each finished with three hits with Nett finishing with seven RBIs and scoring three runs. McDaniel and Tauer both had two hits with Tauer scoring three runs and driving in two runs.
 
Chmielewski (3-2) pitched six innings to earn the victory recording a season-high nine strikeouts. He allowed three runs on five hits, while walking three.
 
In game two, SMSU jumped on the board quickly in the top of the first as McDaniel reached via error and was followed by a Nett two-run home run to left field.
 
BSU tied the game in the second with a two-run, two-out single off SMSU starter Ansen Dulas. The game wasn't tied for long as SMSU regained the lead in the top of the third. McDaniel and Nett started the rally with walk and both moved up on stolen bases. Max Kalenberg stroked a two-run single to right to put SMSU back in the lead, while later in the frame Peyton Nash drilled a two-run single to extend the margin to 6-2.
 
BSU (1-25, 0-16 NSIC) cut the deficit in half in the fourth, but SMSU answered with a run in the sixth to regain a four-run lead. McDaniel led off the inning with a single and later scored on a sac fly by Latendresse to make the score 7-3.
 
The Beavers fought right back and used a three-run home run by Zach Evenson with two outs in the sixth to pull within 7-6. BSU put the tying on base one batter later, but SMSU catcher Caleb Gardow gunned down a would-be base stealing to end the rally.
 
SMSU, which coaxed a team record 13 walks and two hit by pitches, had numerous chances to blow the game open, but left 12 runners on base.
 
The Mustangs used strong relief pitching to maintain the lead as Jerod Cyrus and Kobe Lovell each fired a perfect inning of relief to keep SMSU in the lead at 7-6 heading into the ninth.
 
SMSU picked up a huge insurance run in the ninth with Gardow drilling a leadoff double before scoring on a two-out balk called on the BSU pitcher to build an 8-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
 
Cameron Jensen came into pitch in the ninth and struck out the first batter he faced before allowing a one-out single. SMSU committed an error on a potential game-ending double play to put two runners on base, but Jensen retired the next BSU batter on a fly out. BSU would put both runners in scoring position following a passed ball, but Jensen closed the game with strikeout to earn his first save of the season.
 
SMSU was out-hit 10-6 in finale with McDaniel the only Mustang to record two hits.
 
Dulas (1-2) struck out nine in earning his first victory of the season. He scattered nine hits, while allowing six runs on nine hits with four walks and one hit batter.
 
SMSU returns to action next Saturday and Sunday with a four-game home series versus Concordia-St. Paul with doubleheaders each day.