Photo by Jake McNeill Southwest Minnesota State University pitcher and Granite Falls native Bennett Knapper throws from the mound during the second game of the Mustangs’ three-game Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series against the University of Mary on Saturday at Legion Field in Marshall. Knapper was one of 11 Mustangs participating in their final home series over the weekend, along with Caleb Gardow, Levi Iverson, Ryan Chmielewski, Jerod Cyrus, Noah Cekalla, Owen Latendresse, Cameron Jensen, Shay Endres and Brady and Carter Petron.

MARSHALL — Despite a strong start to their final home series of the season, the Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team dropped two of its three games against UMary on Senior Day weekend. The Mustangs claimed the first game of Saturday’s Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader by a score of 7-2, but dropped the second 12-9 before losing 18-13 in Sunday’s finale.

Sunday marked the final time SMSU’s 11 seniors played in Marshall, including Caleb Gardow, Levi Iverson, Ryan Chmielewski, Jerod Cyrus, Noah Cekalla, Owen Latendresse, Cameron Jensen, Bennett Knapper, Shay Endres and Brady and Carter Petron.

“It’s truly unique being an SMSU Mustang … It’s truly different here, the bond that you’ve created, it’s truly your brothers out there and not just your teammates,” Chmielewski said, a left-handed pitcher. “Today, I really just got to take it in, one last time playing at Legion [Field]. It’s just been a crazy ride, knowing when we came in here, this program was a lot different than what it was now. That’s something I think all the seniors are truly proud of, is what we’ve built here.”

Chmielewski earned SMSU’s lone pitching win of the weekend, throwing a complete game in Saturday’s opener, while Carter Petron and Endres were each tagged with losses.

Cory Bantam led SMSU offensively with six hits for nine RBIs while Cortez recorded seven hits for three RBIs.

SMSU (23-19, 18-17 NSIC) will next head into the final week of the regular season and hit the road to take on the University of Sioux Falls in a doubleheader today with a first pitch at 1:30 p.m. with sights on securing a spot in the conference tournament.

“This was a team that hadn’t gotten to the conference tournament in how many years, and we [seniors] came in and we’ve done it twice [2023, 2024],” Chmielewski said. “We’re looking to do it for a third time. That’s the biggest thing I look back on right now, is that true culture we’ve built here.”

Prior to 2023, the last time SMSU made the NSIC Tournament was in 2014.

“I just got a little sentimental there myself with them [seniors]. They’re a really great group of guys that are very loyal. I’ve been here two years as well, I came in when those guys were juniors, and for those guys to all stick around, the character they have and the type of people they are, it’s a great thing to see,” Ische said. “We will miss them in our baseball program, certainly.”

GAME 1

UMary 2

A four-run third inning and a three-run sixth inning gave SMSU all the offense it needed to pull away for a 7-2 win over UMary in the day’s first game.

Ryan Chmielewski earned the complete-game victory for SMSU, allowing one earned and one unearned run over seven innings. He struck out six batters while allowing six hits and no walks.

Brock Woitalla was hit by a pitch and Caleb Gardow doubled to put two runners in scoring position when Henry Hammrich hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the game’s first run in the third. After Levi Lampert was hit by a pitch, Cory Bantam hit a two-run single with two outs and Jared Cortez hit another RBI single to make the score 4-0.

Aidan Johnson was tagged with the loss for UMary, falling to 4-3 on the season after surrendering four earned and three unearned runs on seven hits over 5 2/3. He also struck out five batters while allowing a pair of walks with three hit batters.

Carter Lang had a single and a double for SMSU in the game while Gardow contributed a double and a walk.

Isaac Pegors hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to get UMary on the board. SMSU answered with four runs in the bottom of the frame to pull right back away.

Lang started the Mustangs’ sixth-inning rally with a leadoff double and scored when Evan Behn reached on an error at second by Mikey Ramirez.

Gardow walked and Hammrich singled to load the bases with one out when Levi Lampert scored Behn on a sacrifice fly and Latendresse singled in Gardow to make the score 7-6 before the inning ended with Hammrich getting picked off at third.

Ramirez reached base on a throwing error by Cortez at second base in the top of the seventh, driving in Kieran Papierski for the lone other UMary run of the game.

Hank Griffin had a pair of singles for UMary while five other Marauders recorded one single.

GAME 2

SMSU 9

Defensive and pitching struggles in the third inning of Saturday’s second game helped UMary put together six runs in a frame to set the tone for their 12-9 win over the Mustangs.

UMary led 2-1 heading into the inning, but Griffin reached on a fielding error by Lang at third, Pegors was hit by a pitch and Marcus Butts laid down a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Noah Hull hit a two-run single and Leafgren followed up with a three-run homer to make the score 7-1. Kieran Gaffney then reached on a wild third strike and scored on a Ramirez double before Jerod Cyrus took over for Carter Petron on the mound and ended the inning with a line out and a fly out.

Petron fell to 4-4 on the year for SMSU after allowing seven earned and an unearned run on seven hits and a walk. He struck out three batters over his 2 1/3 innings on the hill. SMSU went on to throw six pitchers in the game.

UMary hit three home runs in the sixth inning, including solo shots by Pegors and Gaffney and a two-run homer by Papierski, to make the score 11-5. SMSU also got a solo homer from Tyler Froland in the seventh.

Despite the third-inning lapse, the Mustangs continued to battle back. Bantam scored Latendresse on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame, and SMSU strung together three fifth-inning runs to make it a three-run game.

With two outs and Bantam on first, Chuck Hackett singled and Behn reached on a throwing error by UMary pitcher Jeff Tiw to drive in Bantam. Brock Woitalla then drove in Behn and Hackett on another fielding error to make the score 8-5.

Tiw got a no-decision on the day, falling one out shy of the minimum 4 2/3-innings pitched to earn a win. He allowed two earned and three unearned runs on seven hits and a pair of walks. Jacob Burgess got the win to improve to 1-2 after allowing one run on two hits over 1 1/3 innings, while Sam Hayen picked up his sixth save of the year by striking out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect ninth inning.

Bantam drove in runs in the first and eighth innings, scoring Lampert on a sacrifice fly and driving in Latendresse and Lampert in the eighth on a double down the left field line. Henry Hammmrich also gave SMSU a run by capitalizing on a wild pitch in the sixth.

Latendresse led SMSU with four of the team’s 12 hits. Among those hits was a triple, which makes him SMSU’s all-time leader in triples. Bantam also had a double and a team-high four RBIs.

Leafgren led UMary with two homers for five RBIs while Papierski had another three hits for two RBIs.

SUNDAY

SMSU 13

SMSU was down by as many as 15 runs after UMary recorded a 10-run second inning, and eventually cut its deficit to five by the final inning. SMSU found momentum late in the game, but ultimately was unable to complete the full comeback.

“UMary scored [14] runs in three innings there, there was quite a bit of stuff we couldn’t stop,” Ische said. “In college baseball, crazy things happen … Proud of the offense for how they played hard, gave great effort and chipped away at it and gave ourself a chance.”

The Mustangs finished with 21 hits and two errors, to the Marauders’ 20 hits and one error.

Bantam hit two home runs, coming in the third and sixth innings. Lampert and Froland also each hit solo homers in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, while Iverson recorded his first collegiate hit in the bottom of the seventh inning with a single line drive to center field.

Bantam finished with four hits and a team-high four RBIs, and Cortez recorded a team-leading five hits in five at-bats.

The Mustangs went through six pitchers between Shay Endres, who started, Bennet Knapper, Zach Hoehn, Noah Cekalla, Brady and Cole Frisbie.

Brady took the mound in the sixth inning, marking his first pitching appearance since the 2023 season. He spent the most time in the circle with three innings, and finished with a team-high three strikeouts with one walk and no runs.

Endres was charged with the loss, pitching 1 1/3 innings with no strikeouts, six earned runs and six hits.

“We went through a lot of guys yesterday in game 2, and just tried to piece it together a little bit,” Ische said. “It’s the ‘next man up’ mentality, and you got to go out there and play big. Some guys pitched big, and some guys pitched a little small.”

UMary’s Chamberlain was credited with the win, pitching five innings for seven strikeouts, one walk, four earned runs and 12 hits.

Hits came early in the first inning with both teams bringing in a run, however, UMary exploded for 10 more in the second off eight hits to take an 11-1 lead.

The hits for the Marauders continued with Isaac Pegors sending a two-run homer over center field to deepen SMSU’s deficit, along with scoring another third-inning run.

Bantam hit his first home run of the day underneath the scoreboard in left center field to begin the Mustangs’ at-bat in the bottom of the third, in an effort to spark some momentum.

“He’s a big, strong physical kid who competes with bat speed, and he’s got pretty good bat-to-ball skills,” Ische said. “He’s doing a great job at first base for us and being a mainstay in our lineup.”

Yet, UMary’s Bryce Leafgren didn’t allow the Marauders’ offense to let up, sending a three-run home run over the left field fence for a 17-2 lead.

The Mustangs got some base running started in the bottom of the fourth inning, initiated by Lampert hitting his team-leading 11th home run of the season over the field fence.

Latendresse also made his way around the diamond with a double line drive to center field, and stole third base off a passed ball and home from a wild pitch.

SMSU cut the deficit to 18-8 with a four-run sixth inning coming from a pair of two-run home runs from Bantam and Froland, both sending the ball over center field.

The Mustangs continued to make a late push, preventing mercy-rule from taking place, with another three runs off three hits in the bottom of the seventh to trail 18-11.

Iverson, Luke Ruter and Lampert accounted for the trio of runs.

In its final at-bat, SMSU cut the lead to five runs with both Eli Gibbs and Latendresse scoring home off a Bantam RBI and Cortez sacrifice fly, respectively. Gibbs courtesy ran for Lampert, who hit a single to deep right field.

Although UMary went scoreless the final four innings and SMSU was on the verge of coming back, its defense held the Mustangs off for the final outs to end the game.

“As a guy who wasn’t recruited much as a high schooler, and SMSU giving me that shot and letting me use my capabilities to my fullest, I have nothing but the utmost respect for this university for that and this athletic department,” Chmielewski said.