SMSU baseBALL vs. WINONA state

PREVIEWING THIS WEEK

• The Southwest Minnesota State University (16-20, 6-18 NSIC) baseball team continues home action this week with five games at Legion Field in Marshall.
• On Wednesday, SMSU will take on Winona State University (15-19, 10-11 NSIC) for a doubleheader (7-9) starting at 1 p.m.
• This weekend, SMSU will host the University of Jamestown (10-24, 5-16 NSIC) for a three-game series.
• Sunday's doubleheader (7-9) is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. with Monday's single nine-inning game slated for a 12 p.m. first pitch. This weekend will be the first time SMSU has played Jamestown as members of the NSIC.
• Sunday is 'Senior Day' with the SMSU baseball program honoring its 12 seniors in a pregame ceremony.
• WSU begins action on Wednesday in eighth place in the NSIC standings, while SMSU is 13th.
• Following the games this weekend, SMSU is scheduled to play at Wayne State on April 22 for a doubleheader.

HEAD COACH JEREMY ISCHE

• Jeremy Ische, the sixth head coach in team history, is in his third season with a record of 66-68. 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 123-193.
• 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 AGAINST THE WARRIORS

• WSU holds a 128-64 series advantage versus SMSU with the first game played in 1970.
• The teams split four games last season with SMSU earning a non-conference victory in Tucson Ariz., before WSU won two of three league games in Winona on April 18-19.
• SMSU is 34-52 all-time in games played in Marshall. SMSU won two of three games versus WSU in Marshall during the 2024 season.

MUSTANGS BY THE NUMBERS

• As a team, the Mustangs are batting .303, while scoring 7.1 runs per game. SMSU pitchers have recorded a 6.62 ERA with 220 strikeouts in 275 innings. The Mustangs have committed 40 errors in 1,200 total chances (.967 fielding pct.).
• 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, seven of SMSU's 18 losses have come with its opponent scoring in its last at bat.
• 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 .426 with a team-high 13 doubles, while ranking on the team with 29 RBIs. He is tied with Lampert with 17 multi-hit games.
• Redshirt freshman Tanner Rezny is hitting .357 with three doubles, three home runs and 19 RBIs, but is out for the remainder of the season with an injury.
• Junior Connor Davis has five home runs, a team-leading 36 RBIs, is batting .342 while leading the squad with 11 multi-RBI games.
• Redshirt freshman Tanner Rezny is hitting .357 with three doubles, three home runs and 19 RBIs, but is out for the remainder of the season with an injury.
• 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 6.25 ERA in 44 2/3 innings with 36 strikeouts compiling a 2-2 record in eight starts.
• Sophomore Jameson Quinn is 3-3 with a 5.47 ERA in nine starts with a team-high 39 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings.
• Freshman Tad Tjaden has recorded 31 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings.
• Junior Ryan Bell has made nine starts and is 4-3 with a 5.76 ERA in 45 1/3 innings.
• Redshirt freshman Ryan Dalager and sophomore Austin Dent have both made a team-high 13 appearances out of the bullpen, while junior Lincoln Vasgaard has made 12 appearances in relief.

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.

GAME LINKS