PREVIEWING THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team opens the 2025 season this Tuesday and Wednesday with a four-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series versus the University of Minnesota Duluth in Norwalk, Iowa.
•The teams will play a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 1 p.m., while Wednesday's twinbill is set to start at 11:30 a.m. All four games will be played at Fareway Fields at The Gregg Young Sports Campus
•The four-game series was originally scheduled to be played in Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 22-23, but was moved due to field conditions and availability in Norwalk. 
•SMSU, picked to finish ninth in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, is coming off 27-24, 20-19 NSIC, season in 2024. UMD was picked to finish 11^th in the preseason poll and ended the 2024 season with a record of 18-31, 14-26 NSIC.
•SMSU was scheduled to open the season on Feb. 15-16 with a three-game series versus Wisconsin-Parkside but was canceled due to poor weather.   
•Following this week's games, SMSU will have six non-conference games in Tucson, Ariz., from March 8-12, before returning to league play on March 15-16 with a four-game series versus St. Cloud State at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Depending on internet connections at the ballpark, live stats and video for all four games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
SMSU HEAD COACH
•Jeremy Ische, the sixth head coach in team history, is in his second season after being named to the position on June 15, 2023.
•SMSU finished 27-23 overall in 2024 and placed sixth in the NSIC at 20-19. SMSU won its opening game at the NSIC tournament, earning the program's first conference tournament victory since the 2014 season.
•Prior to SMSU, Ische spent 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.
•He was an assistant coach at UIU for two seasons (2017-18) prior to becoming head coach.
•Ische was also an assistant coach at Luther College (2015-16), SMSU (2013-14) and St. Cloud Tech (2012).
 
            SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA DULUTH
•SMSU and UMD have meet 139 times since the 1977 season with UMD holding a 73-66 all-time advantage.
•The teams split a four-game conference series last season in Mankato.
•UMD has won 15 of the last 22 games since the 2016 season.  
 
            SMSU PICKED NINTH IN NSIC POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•SMSU senior outfielder/pitcher Owen Latendresse and senior right-handed relief pitcher Cameron Jensen were both named 'Players to Watch' in the conference this season.
 
            PREVIEWING THE 2025 SEASON
•SMSU returns 13 letter winners from last season's team.
•Senior Owen Latendresse earned All-NSIC second team honors last season finishing second on the team with a .373 batting average with 12 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 10 stolen bases and 34 RBIs. In NSIC play, Latendresse finished 15th in the league batting .367.
•Senior Cameron Jensen made 17 appearances all out of the bullpen last season, finishing 3-2 with two saves, while recording a 3.86 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. He recorded 36 strikeouts, while opponents hit just .206. He allowed a run in just two of his final 14 appearances covering 21 2/3 innings with 29 strikeouts and 10 walks.
•Senior left-handed pitcher Carter Petron made 12 starts and finished 6-2 with a 4.87 ERA in 61 innings with 66 strikeouts. He had a pair of complete games and one shutout.
•Senior left-hander pitcher Ryan Chmielewski also started 12 games tossing 63 1/3 innings with 73 strikeouts, while closing with a 3-7 record and a 7.25 ERA.
•Senior right-hander pitcher Shay Endres closed with a 3-3 record making 14 appearances including five starts with one complete game.
 
            LOOKING BACK AT 2024
•SMSU qualified for the NSIC tournament for consecutive seasons for the first time since 2009-10. The Mustangs opened the tournament with a victory over Minnesota Crookston, earning its first tournament win since 2014.
•SMSU set numerous individual and team records during the season and earned several big victories. The Mustang pitching staff set a team record with 420 strikeouts, while the Mustang defense recorded a team record 1,203 putouts and closed with a .968 fielding percentage ranking as the second highest in program history.
•The Mustang offense racked up 807 total bases, 508 hits and 54 home runs, all ranking second in team history, while the club's 95 doubles and 349 runs scored, both rank seventh in team history.
•SMSU's win over Minnesota State on the final day of the regular season snapped a 19-game losing streak in the series earning its first win over MSU since 2014.
•SMSU senior shortstop Chase McDaniel set a team single season record with 90 base hits and during the season became the program's all-time hits leader.
•McDaniel, along with Kolby Kiser, Owen Latendresse and Isaac Nett all earned All-NSIC first team honors.
•Following the season, Kiser, McDaniel and Nett all signed professional baseball contracts.
 
            NSIC SCHEDULE
•The 14-team NSIC schedule will have feature a variety of four-game, three-game and two-game series during the season.
•The schedule format allows for each team to play every opponent at least twice during the regular season.
•SMSU will play five four-game series (SCSU, UMD, BSU, MISU, CSP), four three-game series (UMC, WSU, UMary, MSU) and doubleheaders versus (WSC, NSU, AU, USF).
•All weekday match-ups will be doubleheaders with one seven-inning game and one nine-inning game.
•SMSU is scheduled to play 40 conference games this season.
 
             MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
             NSIC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO SOUTH DAKOTA
•The 2025 NSIC Tournament will be held on May 7-10 and hosted by the University of Sioux Falls and Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D.  
•The top eight teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the tournament with the champion earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•SMSU is in its 56^TH season of baseball in 2025.
•SMSU has played 2,231 games compiling a record of 1,048-1,180-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.