PREVIEWING THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball (2-2, 2-2 NSIC) steps out of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with six non-conference games in Tucson, Ariz., from March 8-12. SMSU will play its games at the Kino Sports Complex as part of the Tucson Invitational. 
•SMSU will open the week taking on Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) on Saturday for a single nine-inning game starting at 11 a.m. CST.
•On Sunday, SMSU will face Rockford (Ill.) at 3:30 p.m. CDT and will face DWU for a second time starting at 7 p.m. CDT.
•SMSU will take on Park University-Gilbert (Ariz.) on Monday at 3:30 p.m. CDT.
•On Tuesday, SMSU will battle Winona State in a non-conference game at 3:30 p.m. CDT, before closing the trip on Wednesday at 11 a.m. CDT with another non-conference game versus an NSIC foe, Minot State.
•SMSU returns to NSIC play on March 15-16 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis taking on St. Cloud State in a four-game series.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats for all six games will be available at SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            SMSU HEAD COACH
•Jeremy Ische, the sixth head coach in team history, is in his second season with a record of 29-25. He was 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. TUCSON OPPONENTS
•SMSU defeated last season in Tucson and is 6-2 all-time … SMSU will be meeting Rockford and Park University-Gilbert for the first time ever … SMSU and Minot State meet for the 29^th time with MSU leading 17-11 … SMSU won two of three NSIC games last season versus MSU winning twice in Wayne, Neb., before suffering a loss in South Sioux City, Neb. … Winona State holds a 126-62 all-time advantage … SMSU won two of three from WSU last season in Marshall.
 
            MUSTANGS OPEN SEASON WITH FOUR-GAME SPLIT WITH UMD
•SMSU opened the 2025 season in Norwalk, Iowa, on Feb. 25-26, splitting a four-game conference series versus Minnesota Duluth.
•Left-hander pitcher Ryan Chmielewski fired a two-hit, seven inning shutout with eight strikeouts in the season opener. The lone run in the game was a one-out solo home run from Tyler Froland in the bottom of the sixth inning.
•UMD scored two runs in the top of the ninth to break a 5-5 tie and win game two, 7-5, and then threw out the potential tying run in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 2-1 win in game three.
•SMSU rebounded to win game four, 13-9, jumping out to a 12-3 lead after four innings behind a pair of grand slams from Chuck Hackett and Carter Lang.
•Freshman Jameson Quinn earned his first career victory in game four tossing five innings with seven strikeouts.
•Henry Hammrich and Levi Lampert led the Mustangs during the four games with five hits each.
 
            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.
 
            LOOKING BACK AT 2024
•SMSU finished 27-23 last season, including 20-19 in NSIC play, to qualifying for the NSIC tournament in 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 2,235 games compiling a record of 1,050-1,182-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC regular season championships, four NSIC Tournament titles and has played in one NCAA Tournament.