PREVIEWING THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (21-13, 16-11 NSIC), currently in a four-way tie for third place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings, prepares for a three-game series versus eighth place Winona State University (17-20, 13-14 NSIC) on Friday and Saturday at Loughrey Field in Winona, Minn.
•Friday's doubleheader starts at 1:30 p.m. with Saturday's single-game slated for a 12 p.m. start.
•Following this weekend, SMSU will return to Legion Field in Marshall for a doubleheader on April 23 versus Augustana and a three-game home series versus UMary on April 26-27.  
 
            SMSU LAST TIME OUT
•SMSU split a doubleheader at Northern State on Tuesday, rallying for a 7-5 victory in game one before suffering a 7-3 loss in game two.
•In the game one win, Carter Lang ripped a game tying single with two outs in the seventh inning before Owen Latendresse smacked a two-run go-ahead double moments later to put SMSU in the lead.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats and video for all three 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 48-36. 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. WINONA STATE
•WSU leads the all-time series, 126-63, with the first match-up occurring during the 1970 season. SMSU last played in Winona in 2023, with WSU sweeping a doubleheader on April 12.
•The teams met earlier this season in Tucson, Ariz., with SMSU earning a 10-4 non-conference victory.
•SMSU won two of three games in Marshall last season in conference play, winning 2-1 and 11-7, before WSU won 11-8.
•Prior to last season WSU had won nine straight in the series from 2018-23.
 
            SMSU NOTES
•As a team, the Mustangs are batting .286 and scoring 6.6 runs per game. SMSU pitchers are carrying a 4.03 ERA with 231 strikeouts in 266 innings. The Mustangs have made 39 errors in 1,134 total chances (.966 fielding pct.).
•SMSU has belted six grand slams this season.
•Junior Levi Lampert has reached base in all 34 games and is batting .373 with a team-leading 44 hits.
•Lampert has collected a team-high 13 doubles, a team-leading 10 home runs and leads the team lead with 30 RBIs. He has walked a team-high 27 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 .365 with eight doubles.
•Freshman Jared Cortez is batting a .347 with eight doubles, five home runs and 24 RBIs.
•Junior Evan Behn is hitting .348 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 eight starts with 43 strikeouts in 41 1/3 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 is 3-0, with four saves in 14 appearances with a 2.31 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 23 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 15 games and carries a 3.78 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.
 
            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 (4.05) and eighth in batting (.283).
•SMSU is second in home runs (33) and fourth in stolen bases (39).
•SMSU ranks second in opponents' batting average (.229), second in fewest hits allowed (180) and third in fewest walks allowed (90).
•Levi Lampert ranks second in runs (35), second in walks (22), second in OPS (1.279), third in on base pct. (.529), fourth in slugging pct. (.750), fourth in doubles (10), fifth in home runs (8) and 10^th in batting (.380).
•Evan Behn ranks ninth in on base pct. (.474).  
•Cory Bantam ranks 10^th in hits (36).
•Carter Petron ranks eighth in ERA (3.19), while Ryan Chmielewski ranks 10^th (3.50).
•Jameson Quinn ranks fourth in opposing batting average (.192), with Petron ranking sixth (.205) and Chmielewski ranking eighth (.209.
 
            SMSU IN THE NCAA STATS
•In the NCAA statistics (April 16), the SMSU pitching staff ranks fourth in hits allowed per nine innings (7.78), 11^th in WHIP (1.33), 17^th in ERA (4.03) and 69^th in strikeout to walk ratio (1.88).
•The SMSU offense is 32^nd in home runs per game (1.29), 53^rd in home runs (44) and 65^th in slugging pct. (.469).
•Jameson Quinn ranks 38^th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.75).
•Carter Petron ranks 15^th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.0) and 57^th in ERA (2.75).
•Ryan Chmielewski ranks 21^st in hits allowed per nine innings (6.34), 31^st in WHIP (1.02) and 65^th in ERA (2.86)
•Levi Lampert ranks 40^th in slugging pct. (.737), 46^th in doubles per game (0.38), 46^th in on base pct. (.516) and 51^st in runs per game (1.26).
 
            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 2,265 games compiling a record of 1,069-1,193-3.
•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).