PREVIEWING THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University (20-26, 10-24 NSIC) baseball team concludes the 2026 season on Wednesday hosting nationally ranked Augustana University (33-12, 26-6 NSIC) at Legion Field with a doubleheader (7-9) starting at 3 p.m.
•Augustana is receiving votes in both the D2 Baseball Top 25 and ABCA Top 30 polls this week.
•Augustana was also one of 10 teams ranked in the first NCAA Central Region rankings released on April 22.
 
            GAME COVERAGE
•Live stats and video for both 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 70-74. 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 has a career record of 127-199.
•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. AUGUSTANA
•AU holds a 70-46 all-time lead over SMSU in a series that started in 1980.
•AU leads 37-9 in league games since joining the NSIC in 2009.
•AU has won the last 11 meetings and holds a 36-5 advantage since the 2012 season.
 
SMSU LAST TIME OUT
•SMSU is 4-4 in its last eight games, winning two of three games at home versus Jamestown on April 19-20, splitting two games at Wayne State on April 22, before losing two of three last weekend at Minnesota Duluth.
 
QUINN TOSSES NO-HITTER; EARNS NSIC AWARD
•SMSU sophomore right-hander Jameson Quinn tossed the ninth no-hitter in team history last Saturday in a 1-0 seven-inning victory at Minnesota Duluth. He struck out six and walked one in facing two over the minimum. It's the first no-hitter since Joe Axelson tossed a seven-inning gem versus Bemidji State during the 2014 season in Tucson, Ariz.
•Quinn was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week on Monday for his efforts.
 
SMSU NOTES
•As a team, the Mustangs are batting .288, while scoring 7.1 runs per game. SMSU pitchers have recorded a 6.04 ERA with 283 strikeouts in 346 2/3 innings. The Mustangs have committed 53 errors in 1,513 total chances (.965 fielding pct.).
•SMSU has set a team record for hit by pitches for the second straight season. SMSU has been hit 81 times this spring, breaking last season's previous record of 74.
•SMSU turned a triple play to end the game in a victory over Minnesota State on April 11. It was the program's first triple play since 2016 versus Upper Iowa.
•In NSIC play, eight of SMSU's losses have come with its opponent scoring in its last at bat.
•SMSU has suffered nine losses by two runs or less in league play.
•SMSU's eight-game winning streak earlier this season was the program's longest since the 2010 season.
•Senior Levi Lampert had a 64-game on-base streak come to an end on March 10 versus Concordia-St. Paul. Lampert reached base safely in all 47 games last season and the first 17 games this spring. 
•Sophomore Jared Cortez is batting a team-high .379 with a team-high 16 doubles, while ranking second on the team with 36 RBIs. He is tied for the team-high with 21 multi-hit games. In NSIC games, Cortez ranks first in the league in hits (49) and fifth in doubles (12).
•Lampert is batting .358 with 13 doubles and team-leading seven home runs. He is tied with Cortez with 21 multi-hit games and had a team-high 15-game hitting streak earlier this season.
•Junior Connor Davis has five home runs, a team-leading 41 RBIs, is batting .322 while leading the squad with 12 multi-RBI games.
•Redshirt freshman Tanner Rezny was hitting .357 with three doubles, three home runs and 19 RBIs, but was injured on March 28, missing the remainder of the season.  
•Senior Henry Hammrich reached base in 21 straight games earlier this season, the longest by a Mustang player this season.
•Junior Cody Wichmann has a 5.15 ERA in 57 2/3 innings with 53 strikeouts compiling a 3-3 record in 10 starts. He fired a three-hit, seven-inning shutout with a career-high nine strikeouts versus Jamestown on April 20.
•Sophomore Jameson Quinn is 4-4 with a 4.21 ERA in 11 starts with a team-high 52 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings.
•Junior Ryan Bell has made 11 starts and is 5-3 with a 5.01 ERA in 59 1/3 innings.
•Freshman Tad Tjaden has recorded 34 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings.
•Redshirt freshman Ryan Dalager has made a team-high 16 appearances out of the bullpen, while sophomore Austin Dent and Lincoln Vasgaard have both pitched in 15 games.
 
SMSU IN THE NCAA STATS
•As of April 27, SMSU pitching ranks 10th in Division II in walks allowed per nine innings (3.43) and 25^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.11).
•The SMSU defense ranks 51^st in double plays (35) and 58^th in double plays per game (0.76).
•Jared Cortez ranks 70^th in doubles (16).  
•Ryan Bell ranks sixth in walks per nine innings (1.2) and 23^rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.6).
•Jameson Quinn begins the week 28^th in complete game (3), 54^th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.33) and 57^th in WHIP (1.18).
 
            WICHMANN EARNS WEEKLY AWARDS
•Junior pitcher Cody Wichmann was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Week and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Region Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 25.
•Wichmann fired a nine-inning complete game, allowing just six hits and one unearned run with six strikeouts and one walk in SMSU's 5-1 victory over Minot State on Feb. 23. He carried a shutout into the ninth and finished the game tossing 100 pitches with 72 for strikes. He faced three or four MSU batters in seven of the nine innings.
 
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 37 conference games this season.
 
             MORE MUSTANG STATS
•For career statistics and game-highs for each Mustang player go to SMSUmustangs.com/baseballcareer.
 
            MUSTANG HISTORY
•SMSU is in its 57^th season of baseball in 2026.
•SMSU has played 2,314 games compiling a record of 1,091-1,230-3.
•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).