PREVIEWING THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (20-11, 15-10 NSIC), currently tied for fourth place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings, plays five league games on the road this week with two in Aberdeen, S.D., and three in Winona, Minn.
•On Tuesday, SMSU takes on Northern State University (7-25, 3-22 NSIC) with a doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m. at Fossum Field.
•On Friday and Saturday, SMSU will take on Winona State University (16-19, 12-13 NSIC) for a three-game series at Loughrey Field. Friday's doubleheader starts at 1:30 p.m. with Saturday's single-game slated for a 12 p.m. start.
•NSU begins the week currently 13^th, while WSU is tied for eighth in the NSIC standings.
 
SMSU LAST TIME OUT
•SMSU won one of three home games versus Minnesota Crookston last weekend at Legion Field in Marshall. SMSU won the opening game of the season, 1-0, behind 6 1/3 shutout innings from Ryan Chimelewski and a solo home run from Levi Lampert.   
•SMSU lost 7-5 in game two on Saturday, before suffering a 9-4 setback in the series finale on Sunday.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats and video for all five 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 47-35. 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. NORTHERN STATE
•SMSU leads the all-time series, 105-45, with the first match-up occurring during the 1979 season. SMSU last played in Aberdeen in 2022, closing the season winning thre games.
•SMSU went 22-4 in the series from 1997-2003.
•NSU held an 11-5 advantage from 2015-19, but SMSU is 9-1 since 2019, and has won the previous nine games game.
•SMSU won both games last season in Marshall by scores of 5-3 and 16-1.
 
SMSU NOTES
•As a team, the Mustangs are batting .289 and scoring 6.7 runs per game. SMSU pitchers are carrying a 3.98 ERA with 219 strikeouts in 251 innings. The Mustangs have made 36 errors in 1,068 total chances (.966 fielding pct.).
•SMSU has belted six grand slams this season.
•Junior Levi Lampert has reached base in all 32 games and is batting .375 with a team-leading 42 hits. The last SMSU player to reach base in 32 straight games was Max Kalenberg from the end of the 2023 season into the 2024 season.
•Lampert has collected a team-high 12 doubles, a team-leading 10 home runs and leads the team lead with 29 RBIs. He has walked a team-high 25 times, is tied for first with eight multi-RBI games and ranks tied for second with 12 multi-hit games
•Lampert hit home runs in four consecutive games versus Minot State on March 27-28. He is the first SMSU player to hit home runs in four straight games since Austin Stubbs in 2015.
•Junior Cory Bantam is second with 28 RBIs and is batting a team-high .380 with eight doubles.
•Freshman Jared Cortez is batting a .373 with eight doubles, five home runs and 24 RBIs.
•Junior Evan Behn is hitting .349 with five doubles, four home runs and 24 RBIs. He ranks tied for first on the team with eight multi-RBI games.
•Junior Henry Hammrich, junior Tyler Froland, junior Carter Lang and Cortez have all belted five home runs to rank second on the team.
•Senior Carter Petron has a 2.75 ERA in 36 innings with 32 strikeouts compiling a 4-3 record in seven starts.
•Freshman Jameson Quinn is 3-1 in seven starts with a team-high 41 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings.
•Senior Ryan Chmielewski is 4-1 in seven starts with a 2.86 ERA collecting a team-leading 44 strikeouts in 44 innings.
•Senior Cameron Jensen has four saves in 13 appearances with a 2.87 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings.
•Senior Jerod Cyrus has pitched in 11 games recording 16 strikeouts in 18 innings with a 3.50 ERA.
•Senior Bennett Knapper has appeared in 13 games and carries a 2.87 ERA.
 
            MUSTANGS IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Senior Ryan Chmielewski ranks fourth in team history with 210 strikeouts and is fourth all-time in innings pitched at 219.
•Senior Cameron Jensen is tied for third all-time with seven saves. 
•Senior Owen Latendresse is tied for first all-time with 12 triples along with Mark Lickfelt (1995-98), ranks eighth in hit by pitches with 29 and is 15^th in base hits with 170.
 
            SMSU IN THE NSIC STATS
•In the latest NSIC stats (league games only), SMSU ranks third in ERA (3.99) and seventh in batting (.287).
•SMSU is second in home runs (32) and third in stolen bases (38).
•SMSU ranks first in opponents' batting average (.221) and fewest hits allowed (161), while ranking tied for second in fewest walks allowed (82).
 
            SMSU IN THE NCAA STATS
•In the NCAA statistics (April 13), the SMSU pitching staff ranks second in hits allowed per nine innings (7.57), eighth in WHIP (1.30) and 17^th in ERA (3.98).
•The SMSU offense is 27^th in home runs per game (1.34), 57^th in slugging pct. (.475) and 52^nd in home runs (43).
•Jameson Quinn ranks 13^th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.8), while Carter Petron ranks 16^th (6.0) and 59^th in ERA (2.75).
•Ryan Chmielewski ranks 32^nd in WHIP (1.02) and 68^th in ERA (2.86)
•Quinn ranks 73^rd in WHIP (1.17), while Petron is 85^th (1.19).
•Levi Lampert ranks 31^st in slugging pct. (.750), 52^nd in on base pct. (.514) and 57^th in runs per game (1.25).
 
LAMPERT EARNS NSIC AND NCBWA ACCOLADES
•Junior outfielder Levi Lampert was named the NSIC Player of the Week on March 31. He also earned the award on March 24.
•He was also named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Central Region Player of the Week on April 3.
•In five games versus South Dakota State and Minot State, Lampert batted .571 (12 for 21) with four home runs, four doubles, eight RBIs, 15 runs scored and 28 total bases. He walked five times, was hit by two pitches, and stole two bases to close the week with a 1.333 slugging pct. and an on-base pct. of .667.
 
            SMSU PICKED NINTH IN NSIC POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish ninth 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' this season.
 
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 matchups 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 in Sioux Falls, S.D., and hosted by the University of Sioux Falls and Augustana University.  
•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 2,263 games compiling a record of 1,068-1,192-3.
•SMSU has won four NSIC championships (1974, 1994, 1996, 2002), four NSIC tournament titles (1996, 1997, 1999, 2002) and has played in one NCAA tournament (2009).