PREVIEWING THIS WEEKEND
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team (22-17, 17-15 NSIC) hostS its final three home games of the season this weekend taking on the University of Mary (20-21, 16-16 NSIC) at Legion Field.
•Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:30 p.m. with Sunday's single game starting at 12 p.m.
•Sunday will be 'Senior Day' at the ballpark as SMSU will honor its 11 seniors in a pregame ceremony.
•SMSU begins the weekend in a three-way tie for fifth place in the league standings, while UMary is one-game behind and tied for eighth place.
•The top eight teams in the regular season standings qualify for the NSIC tournament starting on May 7 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
•Following this weekend, SMSU will close the regular season with a doubleheader at Sioux Falls on April 29 and a three-game series at Minnesota State on May 2-3.
SMSU LAST TIME OUT
•SMSU lost both games of a doubleheader to Augustana on Wednesday at Legion Field. SMSU suffered an 8-3 loss in game one before losing 6-3 in game two.
•
Owen Latendresse led the SMSU offense with a combined five hits in the two games.
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 49-40. 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. UMARY
•SMSU is 29-13 all-time versus UMary with the first game played in 2007.
•SMSU is 10-3 all-time in games played in Marshall, including sweeping a doubleheader on April 27, 2022, at Legion Field.
•SMSU swept a three-game series at UMary during the 2023 season.
•UMary won two of three games last season in Bismarck and Mandan, N.D.
SMSU NOTES
•As a team, the Mustangs are batting .284 and scoring 6.5 runs per game. SMSU pitchers are carrying a 4.65 ERA with 259 strikeouts in 306 innings. The Mustangs have made 43 errors in 1,301 total chances (.967 fielding pct.).
•SMSU has belted six grand slams this season.
•Junior
Levi Lampert has reached base in all 39 games and is batting a team high .358 with a team-leading 49 hits.
•Lampert has collected a team-high 13 doubles, a team-leading 10 home runs and leads the team lead with 34 RBIs. He has walked a team-high 29 times, is first with nine multi-RBI games and ranks tied for second with 13 multi-hit games
•Lampert hit home runs in four consecutive games versus Minot State on March 27-28 becoming the first Mustang to hit home runs in four straight games since Austin Stubbs in 2015.
•Junior
Cory Bantam is second with 29 RBIs and is batting .341 with eight doubles. He has reached base in 21 straight games.
•Junior
Evan Behn is hitting .321 with five doubles, four home runs and 26 RBIs. He ranks second on the team with eight multi-RBI games.
•Freshman
Jared Cortez is batting a .326 with eight doubles, five home runs and 26 RBIs. He leads the club with 14 multi-hit games.
•Senior
Carter Petron has a 3.59 ERA in 42 2/3 innings with 39 strikeouts compiling a 4-3 record in eight starts.
•Freshman
Jameson Quinn is 3-2 with a 4.99 ERA in 10 appearance and nine starts with 47 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings.
•Senior
Ryan Chmielewski is 4-2 in eight starts with a 4.11 ERA collecting a team-leading 45 strikeouts in 46 innings.
•Senior
Cameron Jensen is 3-1, with five saves in 17 appearances with a 2.83 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings.
•Senior
Bennett Knapper has appeared in 17 games and carries a 3.79 ERA in 19 innings.
•Senior
Jerod Cyrus has pitched in 12 games recording 19 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings with a 4.35 ERA.
MUSTANGS IN THE RECORD BOOK
•Senior
Ryan Chmielewski ranks fourth in team history in strikeouts (211), is fourth all-time in innings pitched (221) and tied for second in games started (40).
•Senior
Cameron Jensen ranks third all-time in saves (8) and sixth in appearances (50).
•Senior
Owen Latendresse, along with Mark Lickfelt (1995-97), is tied for first all-time in triples (12), ranks sixth in hit by pitches (32), ninth in total bases (291) and 10
th in base hits (186).
SMSU IN THE NSIC STATS
•In the latest NSIC stats (league games only), SMSU ranks third in ERA (4.81) and eighth in batting (.281).
•SMSU is tied for second in home runs (34) and fourth in stolen bases (43).
•SMSU ranks third in opponents' batting average (.248), third in fewest hits allowed (238) and tied for second in fewest walks allowed (104).
•
Levi Lampert ranks third in runs (38), second in walks (24), fourth in on base pct. (.510), sixth in OPS (1.177), eighth in doubles (10), sixth in home runs (8) and ninth in slugging pct. (.667).
•
Carter Petron ranks ninth in ERA (4.06).
•
Jameson Quinn ranks fifth in opposing batting average (.199), with Petron ranking seventh (.217) and Chmielewski ranking eighth (.236).
•Quinn ranks fourth in innings pitched (43) and ninth in strikeouts (40).
SMSU IN THE NCAA STATS
•In the NCAA statistics (April 23), the SMSU pitching staff ranks 18
th in hits allowed per nine innings (8.47), 22
nd in WHIP (1.39), 41
st in ERA (4.65) and 68
th in strikeout to walk ratio (1.89).
•The SMSU offense is 47
th in home runs per game (1.15) and 64
th in home runs (45).
•
Jameson Quinn ranks 32
nd in hits allowed per nine innings (6.84).
•
Carter Petron ranks 20
th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.54) and 85
th in WHIP (1.20).
•
Cameron Jensen ranks 45
th in saves (5).
•
Ryan Chmielewski ranks 73
rd in hits allowed per nine innings (7.43) and 65
th in WHIP (1.15).
•
Levi Lampert ranks 74
th in on base pct. (.503) and 83
rd in runs per game (1.18).
LAMPERT & CHMIELWESKI EARN WEEKLY HONORS
•Junior outfielder
Levi Lampert was named the NSIC Player of the Week on March 31 and on March 24.
•He was also named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Central Region Player of the Week on April 3.
•Senior pitcher
Ryan Chmielewski was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on April 14.
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 2,270 games compiling a record of 1,070-1,197-3.
•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).
