PREVIEWING THE WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (26-22) returns to the diamond on Wednesday night in the first round of the eight-team, double elimination Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament played in both Bismarck, N.D., and Mandan, N.D.
•SMSU, the No. 6 seed, will take on No. 3 seed, Minnesota Crookston (34-14) at 6 p.m. in Bismarck at the Municipal Ballpark at Dakota Community Bank & Trust Field.
•If SMSU wins on Wednesday they'll play at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday at Veterans Memorial Ballpark at BNC Field in Mandan, while a loss on Wednesday would put the Mustangs in the losers' bracket with a 12 p.m. game in Bismarck. SMSU will play either No. 2 Minnesota State or No. 7 UMary on Thursday.
•SMSU is making its second straight appearance in the tournament after not qualifying from 2015-22.
•The winner of the NSIC tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The 39-team NCAA Central Region is made up of teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC). Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis.
 
GAME COVERAGE
•Live video, radio and stats for all games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
•SMSU's games will air live on 107.5 The Fan in Marshall and at MarshallRadio.net. Kelly Loft, SMSU Assistant AD for Communications, will handle the play-by-play.
•Live video will be provided on the NSIC Network via pay-per-view.
 
SMSU HEAD COACH
•Jeremy Ische is in his first season as head coach after being named to the position on June 15, 2023. He is the sixth head coach in team history.
•Ische has a career record of 83-147 in six seasons as a head coach after spending the previous five seasons (2019-23) as head coach at Upper Iowa University compiling a record of 57-125. 
•UIU had its best season under Ische in 2023, finishing with a 19-27 record, including 15-19 in NSIC play.
•Ische was an assistant coach at UIU for two seasons (2017-18) and was also an assistant coach at Luther College (2015-16), SMSU (2013-14) and St. Cloud Tech (2012).
 
SMSU ALL-TIME AT THE NSIC TOURNAMENT
•SMSU is 32-27 all-time in the NSIC tournament with four championships (1996, 1997, 1999, 2002).
•SMSU has finished as tournament runner-up on four occasions (1998, 2000, 2005, 2010).
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
•SMSU leads the all-time series 53-14 since first meeting during the 2000 season.
•UMC won two of three games in Crookston earlier this season on April 13-14.
•UMC leads the series 11-10 since the 2017 season.
 
MUSTANGS BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is averaging 7.0 runs per game and batting .313 on the season.
•SMSU has a team ERA of 5.78 in 375 innings with a school single-season record 393 strikeouts. Opponents are averaging 5.7 runs per game and batting .289.
•SMSU will play at least 50 games this season for the sixth time in program ranking tied for second. The 2004 team played a school record 52 games.
•SMSU has set a team record with 21 triples.
•SMSU's 50 home runs ranks tied for fifth in team history.
 
SMSU IN THE FINAL NSIC STATS
•In the final NSIC statistics (league games only), Chase McDaniel ranked first in hits (70), second in batting average (.447), third in total bases (110), fifth in runs scored (42), seventh in slugging pct. (.683), tied for eighth in home runs (9) ninth in OPS (1.143) and tied for 10^th in RBIs (37).
•Isaac Nett tied for eighth in home runs (9) and tied for 10^th in RBIs (37).
•Max Kalenberg finished fifth in the league in walks (27).
•Kolby Kiser was second in innings (55 2/3), tied for sixth in wins (5), seventh in ERA (3.23) and 13^th in strikeouts (47).
•Carter Petron ranked ninth in strikeouts (53) and ninth in opponent batting average (.253).
•Ryan Chmielewski finished tied for seventh in strikeouts (54).
 
MUSTANGS IN THE NCAA STATS
•In the latest NCAA statistics (May 5), SMSU ranks ninth in triples (21), 12^th in strikeouts per nine innings (9.4), 29^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.3) and 46^th in slugging pct. (.496).
•Chase McDaniel ranks second in the country in hits per game (1.79), fourth in hits (86), 27^th in batting average (.424) and 25^th in total bases (138).
•Kolby Kiser ranks fourth in complete games (5), 46^th in ERA (2.84) and 54^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.2).
 
MCDANIEL BECOMES PROGRAM'S ALL-TIME & SINGLE-SEASON HITS LEADER
•Senior Chase McDaniel broke the program's all-time hits record on April 14 with his 214^th career hit. He is just the fourth player in team history to reach 200 career hits and has amassed 237 in 163 career games. Greg Laughlin (2006-09) held the previous record of 213.
•McDaniel has also set the program single-season hits record on April 24 surpassing the record of 70 he tied last season along with Colby Pack (2005). McDaniel has 86 hits in 48 games this season.
 
MUSTANG EXTRA BASES
•Chase McDaniel is batting a team-high .424 (fifth in team single-season history) and leads the team with 86 hits, 53 runs, 52 RBIs and is tied for first in home runs with 11, while ranking second with 13 doubles. He also leads the club in multi-hit games (29) and multi-RBI games (15). McDaniel's 138 total bases ranks second in team single-season history. Patrick Rients (2014) compiled 144 to set the team record.
•Besides holding the school career record for base hits, McDaniel ranks first in at bats (641), third in total bases (349), fifth in runs scored (150), sixth in assists (374), tied for eighth in doubles (36), tied for ninth in stolen bases (36) and 10^th in batting average (.370).  
•McDaniel has hit two grand slams this season, including a an inside-the-park grand slam in a win over Dakota Wesleyan on March 3. It was SMSU's first inside-the-park home run since Jarred Carlson versus Bemidji State on March 11, 2015.
•Isaac Nett ranks first tied for first on the team with 11 home runs, is second in RBIs (44) and first in stolen bases (12). He is batting .349, ranking third on the team.
•Owen Latendresse is hitting .367 with 11 doubles, five triples and five home runs. He missed five games last week with an injury. He ranks second in team history with 11 triples. Mark Lickfelt holds the career mark with 12 from 1995-98.
•Jake Tauer is hitting .314 with eight doubles and 26 RBIs.
•Keenan Wenzel, who was named the NSIC Player of the Week on March 4, is batting .307 with four triples, eight doubles, six home runs and 30 RBIs.
•Max Kalenberg has walked a team-high 37 times and earlier this season reached base in a team-high 23 straight games. The 37 walks ranks eighth in team single-season history.
•Jaxon Haase leads the team with 14 doubles and is batting .289 with five home runs and 30 RBIs.
•Peyton Nash is hitting .292 with eight doubles and 26 RBIs.  
 
MUSTANGS FROM THE MOUND
•Kolby Kiser is 6-3 in 11 starts with a 2.84 ERA in 69 2/3 innings and leads the team lead with 67 strikeouts. He ranks fourth in team history in strikeouts per nine innings (9.7) and fourth all-time in strikeouts (195).
•Carter Petron has a 4.11 ERA in 57 innings with 64 strikeouts, while recording a 6-1 record in 11 starts. He tossed a nine-inning six-hit shutout versus Concordia-St. Paul on April 5 with five strikeouts. It was the first nine-inning shutout by an SMSU pitcher since Mitch Wurm in 2015. He also recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in a victory at Minnesota Crookston on April 13 and again at UMary on April 27.
•Ansen Dulas is 2-2 in nine games with eight starts and has recorded 52 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. He ranks eighth in team history in strikeouts (165) and fifth all-time in strikeouts per nine innings (9.4). He has missed the past two weeks with an injury.
•Ryan Chmielewski has a 3-6 record in 10 starts with 63 strikeouts in 58 innings. He tossed a career-high eight innings vs. Concordia-St. Paul on April 6 allowing zero earned runs. He has struck out a season-high nine twice this season.
•Shay Endres is 3-3 and has recorded a 5.21 ERA in 13 appearances with five starts, while registering 38 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings.
•Kobe Lovell ranks first in team history in appearances (60) surpassing B.J. Richter's 58 appearances from 1997-2000.
 
MCDANIEL NAMED NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Senior Chase McDaniel was named the NSIC Player of the Week on April 15. In five games versus Wayne State and Minnesota Crookston, he batted .714 (15-of-21) with four home runs, a triple, a double, nine RBIs, scored 10 runs and collected 30 total bases.
 
NETT EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS; TIES SCHOOL RECORD
•Senior Isaac Nett was named the NSIC Player of the Week along with being named D2 Baseball Insider and NCBWA National Player of the Week for the week of April 1 following his play in four Mustang victories over Bemidji State on March 29-30.
•Nett batted .588 (10-for-17) with four home runs, three doubles, 17 RBIs, eight runs scored and 25 total bases. He also walked four times, stole two bases and finished with a 1.471 slugging pct. and a .667 on-base pct.
•He tied a school record with three home runs and finished with seven RBIs in SMSU's game one doubleheader victory on March 30. He became the fourth player in team history to hit three home runs in a game and the first since 2016.
•In game two of the doubleheader on March 30, Nett belted a home run in his first at bat and walked four times to tie another school single-game record.
 
KISER SETS SCHOOL SINGLE-GAME RECORD; TEAM BREAKS RECORD
•Senior Kolby Kiser set a team single-game record with 16 strikeouts in eight innings earning a no-decision in a 2-1 loss versus Walsh (Ohio) on March 9. Kiser broke the previous record of 15 strikeouts set by Adam Schrader during the 2009 season.
•The 16 strikeouts rank as the third highest in Division II this season.
•Kiser, along with Shay Endres and Cameron Jensen, combined to strikeout 19 batters in the loss setting a team record for strikeouts in a single-game.
 
MUSTANGS EARN POSTSEASON HONORS IN 2023
•SMSU had several players receive accolades following the 2023 season.
•Chase McDaniel was named All-NSIC first team, while Kolby Kiser, Ansen Dulas and Keenan Wenzel were all named All-NSIC second team.
•Ryan Chmielewski was selected to the NSIC All-Defensive team and was named to the ABCA Central Region All-Defensive team.
•McDaniel and Kiser were both named NCBWA All-Region honorable mention, while McDaniel picked-up CCA All-Region second team honors.
 
NETT NAMED 2023 CSC ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
•Isaac Nett was named to the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Division II baseball first team as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) last June.
•It's the 28th time in school history and the sixth Mustang baseball student-athlete to earn CSC Academic All-American accolades.  
 
MORE MUSTANG STATS
•Career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player can be found at: SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer
 
SMSU PICKED FIFTH IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•Mustang senior shortstop Chase McDaniel and senior right-handed pitcher Kolby Kiser were both named 'Players to Watch' in the conference this season.
 
MUSTANG HISTORY
•SMSU is in its 55th season of baseball in 2024.
•SMSU has played 2,228 games compiling an all-time record of 1,047-1,178-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC tournament titles and has played in one NCAA tournament.