Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University outfielder Levi Lampert rounds second base during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball doubleheader against Augustana at Legion Field in Marshall on Wednesday. The Mustangs will host UMary for a three-game series this weekend, marking their final home games of the year.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team will host UMary for a three-game series this weekend, marking the Mustangs’ final homestand of the season with Senior Day being celebrated on Sunday.

The Mustangs and Marauders are neck-and-neck in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings heading into the matchup. With eight games left on the schedule, SMSU is tied with Winona State and Minnesota Crookston for fifth place in the conference at 17-15. One game back, UMary is tied with St. Cloud State for eighth place at 16-16. The Mustangs are 22-17 overall while the Marauders are 20-21. 

When UMary hosted SMSU at Legacy Field in Bismarck, N.D. last season, the Marauders claimed two of the series’ three games. Still, SMSU is 29-13 all-time against UMary and has won seven of the teams’ last nine meetings. 

In SMSU’s last pair of games against Augustana on Wednesday, Owen Latendresse led the offense with five hits with an RBI and a double, and freshman Jameson Quinn and sophomore Cody Wichmann each went 6 or more innings in their starts. Still, a lack of run support left SMSU with a pair of losses, 8-3 and 6-3. 

UMary, meanwhile, swept Bemidji State 10-1 and 12-2 in seven innings. Isaac Pegors and Noah Hull each homered twice in the doubleheader, with both of Pegors’ homers coming in the first three innings of game 2, while Bryce Leafgren added a home run in the first game.

On the mound, Konnor Kirchoffner improved to 3-0 after tossing six innings with one run allowed, while Ryan Chamberlain improved to 3-5 with the win in the second game after tossing three scoreless innings.

SMSU has played a game more oriented toward pitching and defense so far, while UMary has focused more on its offense. The Mustangs’ 4.65 team ERA ranks third in the NSIC compared to Umary’s 7.16 ranking eighth, but the Marauders’ 376 runs scored rank seventh in the conference to SMSU’s 257 ranking 10th.

Pitching depth has been a focal point of the Mustangs’ pitching success. Carter Petron, Ryan Chmielewski and Jameson Quinn rank fourth, seventh and 13th in the conference in ERA. Petron’s ERA sits at 3.59, while Quinn and Chmielewski each rank top 10 in the conference in strikeouts with 47 and 45.

For UMary, Aiden Johnson leads the team with a 4.44 ERA to rank ninth in the NSIC.

In terms of hitting, Pegors has been among the conference’s premier batters this season. His 1.323 OPS leads the conference, his 13 home runs are second only to Minnesota State’s Ike Mezzenga’s 15, and his 50 RBIs also rank third in the conference. Leafgren also ranks 0th in the NSIC with a 1.076 OPS.

For the Mustangs, Levi Lampert leads the way with a 1.175 OPS on the season, ranking fourth in the NSIC, with his .503 on-base percentage ranking fifth. Carter Lang has also been hot as of late, riding a five-game hit streak with seven hits and six RBIs into today’s game.

Playoff hunt

SMSU has a four-game lead over Concordia-St. Paul, the first team out of the NSIC tournament, with eight games left on the schedule. A sweep this weekend would secure the Mustangs’ third consecutive tournament appearance after ending an eight-year drought in 2023.

The Mustangs have the potential to move up as high as third place, though they’d need to pick up fou games on Wayne State (21-11) in an eight-game stretch to get there. More realistically, the Mustangs are just one game back of Sioux Falls (18-14), with the Cougars currently on a four-game skid.

Senior Day

The Mustangs are graduating 11 seniors this year, including catchers Caleb Gardow, Brady Petron and Levi Iverson, outfielder Owen Latendresse and pitchers Jerod Cyrus, Noah Cekalla, Cameron Jensen, Bennett Knapper, Shay Endres, Carter Petron and Chmielewski. Chmielewski is currently fourth in team history in strikeouts with 211, Jensen ranks third in saves with eight and Latendresse is tied with Mark Lickfelt with a program-record 12 triples.

When and where

All three games in the series will be played at Legion Field in Marshall. Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. while Sunday’s Senior Day game is slated for noon.

Where to watch

Live stats and video for all three games can be found online at SMSUmustangs.com