PREVIEWING THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team opens the 2026 season this Saturday and Sunday with a four-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series versus the University of Minnesota Crookston (1-2) at Aspen Park in Brandon, S.D.
•The teams will play a doubleheader each day starting at 12 p.m. The first three games will serve as conference games, while the second game of Sunday's doubleheader will count as a seven-inning non-conference game. 
•The series was originally scheduled to be played in Fort Scott, Kan., but was relocated due to warmer than expected temperatures in the Upper Midwest.  
•SMSU, picked to finish ninth in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, is coming off a 23-24, 18-22 NSIC, season in 2025. UMC was picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll and ended last season with a record of 23-29, 20-20 NSIC.
•UMC is 1-2 this season following a three-game series at UC-Colorado Springs last weekend.
•Following this weekend's games, SMSU is schedule to play Minot State in a four-game set on Feb. 22-23 in Lincoln, Neb.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•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 third season with a record of 50-48. He was named to the position on June 15, 2023.
•SMSU finished 27-23 overall and placed sixth in the NSIC at 20-19 during his first season as head coach in 2024. 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. In seven seasons as a head coach
•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 CROOKSTON
•SMSU is 55-16 all-time versus UMC with the first game played in 2000.
•UMC won two of three games played last season in Marshall.
•UMC leads the series 13-12 since the 2017 season.   
 
            LAMPERT EARNS PRESEASON ACCOLADE
•Senior outfielder Levi Lampert was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) preseason All-Central Region team.
•Lampert earned All-NSIC first team honors last season batting .339 while leading SMSU in home runs (11), doubles (14), runs (54), total bases (104), hit by pitches (15) and walks (32).
•He reached base in all 47 games, led the squad with 10 multi-RBI games and was second with 16 multi-hit games.
•Lampert closed the season with a .619 slugging percentage, while recording a .479 on-base percentage.
 
            SMSU NOTES
•As a team in 2025, the Mustangs batted .289, while scoring 6.6 runs per game. SMSU pitchers finished with a 5.47 ERA with 299 strikeouts in 367 innings. The Mustangs made 56 errors in 1,573 total chances (.964 fielding pct.).
•Senior Levi Lampert earned All-NSIC first team honors last season batting .339 while leading SMSU in home runs (11), doubles (14), runs (54), total bases (104), hit by pitches (15) and walks (32). He led the squad with 10 multi-RBI games and was second with 16 multi-hit games.
•Senior Carter Lang is the team's top returning hitter after closing 2025 with a .340 average with six home runs and 31 RBIs.
•Senior Evan Behn hit .310 with five doubles, four home runs and 29 RBIs. He ranked tied for second on the team with nine multi-RBI games.
•Senior Tyler Froland clubbed seven home runs to rank second on the team.
•Sophomore Jared Cortez batted .327 with nine doubles, five home runs and 30 RBIs. He ranked third on the club with 15 multi-hit games.
•Sophomore Jameson Quinn finished 3-3 with a 5.72 ERA in 12 appearance and 11 starts with 50 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings.
•Junior Cody Wichmann appeared in 10 games with four starts. He finished 1-3 with a 4.62 ERA in 25 1/3 innings with 20 strikeouts.
•Sophomore Austin Dent appeared in 12 games and closed with a 2.30 ERA with eight strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings.
•SMSU belted six grand slams last season.
 
            SMSU PICKED NINTH IN NSIC POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish ninth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
•SMSU senior outfielder Levi Lampert and sophomore right-handed pitcher Jameson Quinn were both named 'Players to Watch' this season.
 
            NSIC SCHEDULE
•The 15-team NSIC schedule will have feature a variety of three-game series and doubleheaders during the season.
•The schedule format allows for each team to play every opponent at least twice during the regular season.
•SMSU will play nine three-game series (UMC, MISU, CSP, UMARY, SCSU, NSU, MSU, UJ, UMD) and doubleheaders versus (BSU, USF, WSU, WSC, AU).
•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.
 
            LAMPERT EARNS WEEKLY HONORS IN 2026
•Senior 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.
 
             NSIC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO SOUTH DAKOTA
•The 2026 NSIC tournament will be held on May 6-9 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 57^th season of baseball in 2026.
•SMSU has played 2,278 games compiling a record of 1,071-1,204-3.
•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).