Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University shortstop Brock Woitalla (left) tags out Augustana’s Kobe Eikmeier as second baseman Jared Cortez (back) looks on. The Mustangs hosted Augustana for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball doubleheader on Wednesday at Legion Field in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team dropped a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchups against Augustana on Wednesday. The Mustangs fell 8-3 in the opener before losing the nightcap by a score of 6-3, moving them down into a tie with Winona State and Minnesota Crookston for fifth place.

Each of SMSU’s starting pitchers made it through six innings on the day, with Jameson Quinn giving up six earned runs over 6 1/3 in the first game and Cody Wichmann allowing four earned runs over six frames in the second.

“We pitched relatively well. Cody Wichmann was really, really good, he competed for us, and to throw a freshman [Quinn] and a sophomore out there against a really good team in Augustana — who’s top of the league and hitting .350-plus as an offense — is just really good effort,” SMSU head coach Jeremy Ische said. “We have to get better at situational hitting and some two-strike approach. There’s too much striking out there for my liking, we’ve got to be more ultra-aggressive on fastballs… but we defended well, we pitched it relatively well and we’ve got a group of kids that are ready to rock.”

Owen Latendresse led SMSU at the plate with five hits, including a double. Levi Lampert also reached base four times with two singles and two walks, while Cory Bantam had a single and three walks. 

Wednesday’s results bring SMSU down to 22-17 overall and 17-15 in the NSIC on the season, leaving them 1.5 games back of fourth-place Sioux Falls. The Mustangs are also just two games ahead of 10th-place Minnesota Duluth, which holds the final NSIC tournament spot.

“UMary’s a well-coached team. They’re tough, they’ve got good players, as do we, and it’ll be a meaningful weekend for us,” Ische said. “We’ve just got to play our game, play our style, hunt the fastball offensively, throw strikes to the bottom of the zone and just be ultra-competitive and play really, really hard. That’s kind of our secret sauce.”

SMSU will look to solidify its postseason position this weekend when it hosts UMary for its final games of the season at Legion Field in Marshall. The three-game series will begin with a Saturday doubleheader at 1:30 p.m., and wrap up with a single noon game on Sunday. UMary is currently tied with St. Cloud State for eighth place in the conference and sits just one game back of the Mustangs.

Sunday’s game will also be senior day for the Mustangs. SMSU will graduate 11 seniors this year, including everyday starters Caleb Gardow and Owen Latendresse, key pitchers such as Ryan Chmielewski, Cameron Jensen, Carter Petron and Bennett Knapper, and Brady Petron, who started games at catcher at the beginning of the season before suffering a season-ending injury in a game against South Dakota State on March 25. 

“I’m not their parents, but we spend a lot of time with them and it’s cool to see them have success and to see them graduate,” Ische said. “Those are really awesome kids that have done a lot for this place and this program, but it’s kind of bittersweet. You’ve got to set them free… Hopefully they can walk away from here with some valuable life skills that can help make them productive members of society and be good future husbands, fathers and community members.”

Augustana 8, SMSU 3

SMSU took an early lead when Levi Lampert and Owen Latendresse singled and Cory Bantam walked to load the bases with no outs. A strikeout put one away before Carter Lang hit an RBI single, but another pair of strikeouts left the bases loaded.

Augustana overtook the Mustangs for the remainder of the game in the third, starting with a leadoff solo home run from Jake Lundquist. 

Trevor Winterstein singled and Carter Heinsch walked to put two runners on when Jason Axelberg hit a three-run homer with two outs to make the score 4-1.

Jameson Quinn took the loss on the mound for SMSU, falling to 3-2 on the season in his 6 1/3-inning start. He gave up six earned runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

For the Vikings, Aidan Torpey earned the win to improve to 3-0 on the season by throwing 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out a batter while allowing two hits. He took over after Ryan Clementi allowed two earned runs on four hits and a walk over 2 1/3 innings in the start.

SMSU got back on the scoreboard in the fourth when Cory Bantam singled and scored on a Jared Cortez single to make the score 4-2. 

The Mustangs’ lone other run came in the fifth, mimicking the start of the first inning as Lampert and Latendresse singled before Bantam walked to load the bases with no outs. After a strikeout put one away, Lang reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in one run but a fly out ended the frame with SMSU trailing 5-3.

Lampert and Latendresse each had a pair of hits while Bantam had a hit and two walks. No Mustangs recorded an extra-base hit in the game.

Axelberg led Augustana with three RBIs on one hit while Troy Berg and Lundquist each logged a pair of hits. 

Winterstein reached drove in one run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth and seventh innings, and Berg hit an RBI single in the seventh with an error by SMSU pitcher Cullen Huppert helping a runner to score on the play.

Huppert gave up two runs, one unearned, on one hit without getting an out. Bennet Knapper also got a pair of outs to close out the game for the Mustangs while striking out a pair of batters with one hit and one walk allowed. 

Caden Oberbroekling gave up one earned run without getting an out before Kai Taylor took over to earn the save. Taylor pitched the game’s final three innings, striking out six batters without allowing a baserunner to earn his third save of the season. 

GAME 2

SMSU 3

The Vikings took the lead for good in the top of the sixth. A pair of singles from Axelberg and Berg put two runners on when Ragan Pinnow hit an RBI double to give the Vikings the lead. 

Augustana’s rally continued when Joshua Koskie hit a hard ball at the mound. SMSU pitcher Cody Wichmann barehanded it and chased Berg back to third base, which Pinnow had already established himself on. While there was nowhere for Berg to go, Wichmann threw the ball to third rather than holding for the tag and Berg reversed course before scoring a run. Clementi then laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Pinnow for a 4-1 lead. 

Wichmann put together a quality start on the mound for the Mustangs. The sophomore pitcher threw six innings for SMSU, surrendering four earned runs on eight hits with no walks and a strikeout. The decision drops his record to 1-2 on the season. 

Latendresse drove in a tying run for SMSU with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Augustana changed arms on the mound after Woitalla singled with two outs, putting in Harry Blum for Adam Diedrich, and Lampert walked to put two runners on. Latendresse then drilled a single off the mound and into the outfield to score Woitalla, but a hard-hit fly ball from Bantam in the next at-bat was caught in center field to leave a pair of runners stranded in scoring position. 

Augustana first took the lead in the bottom of the second when Axelberg belted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for his second home run of the day. 

Drew Ball threw three scoreless innings for the Vikings to start the game, limiting SMSU to a hit and two walks with five strikeouts. Jadon Bast and Blum each also threw a scoreless inning of relief; Bast didn’t allow a baserunner while striking out one batter, while Blum gave up two hits and a walk while striking out two. The win went to Blum, who improves to 3-2 on the year.

Trailing by three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Lang was hit by a pitch and Tyler Froland came in as a pinch hitter for Henry Hammrich before doubling to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Caleb Gardow battled his way to a full count before driving a ball into center field for an RBI single, and a wild pitch allowed Eli Gibbs — in as a pinch runner for Froland — to score to make it a one-run game. 

After Joel Van De Stroet gave up two earned runs over 1 1/3, Jack Sutton came to the mound for Augustana to close out the game with a scoreless final 1 2/3 innings to earn his second save of the season.

Jack Hines hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to give Augustana a 6-3 lead heading into SMSU’s final at-bat.