Photo courtesy of Zachary Mortland/SMSU Athletic Communications: Southwest Minnesota State second baseman Keenan Wenzel (2) is welcomed back into the dugout by his teammates after hitting the go-ahead home run in the Mustangs’ Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament game against Minnesota Crookston on Wednesday. SMSU defeated Minnesota Crookston 6-0 at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark in Bismarck, N.D.

BISMARCK, N.D. — Kolby Kiser pitched a gem for the Southwest Minnesota State baseball team in its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament on Wednesday night. The senior pitcher threw a complete-game shutout for the sixth-seeded Mustangs, leading SMSU to a 6-0 upset victory over No. 3 Minnesota Crookston. The win is the Mustangs’ first tournament win since 2014 when they defeated Northern State under then-head coach Paul Blanchard. Current SMSU head coach Jeremy Ische was an assistant on the team at the time.

“Being back in this seat here and being in a little bit of a different role, it’s really cool. It’s great for a program, it’s great for the university,” Ische said. “I think I had about 80-something text messages already come in… A lot of support, alumni reaching out and different people contacting us and saying, ‘Congratulations, keep going, keep playing well.’ It’s just a really cool thing for our players in our program.”

The victory was also SMSU’s first winner’s bracket victory since 2009 when they defeated Winona State in the first round before eventually reaching the NCAA tournament regional.

Kiser threw 131 pitches over nine innings for the Mustangs on Wednesday, striking out 11 batters while allowing just six hits and a walk. 

The only Crookston runner to advance past second base was Jake Hjelle, who hit a triple with two outs in the eighth inning. Still, Kiser retired each of the next four batters to get out of the inning and close out the game.

“He threw 97 strikes in the game. That’s sometimes more pitches than most guys throw in games,” Ische said of Kiser’s performance, adding that Kiser’s fastball, curveball and changeup were all working effectively on the day. “He’s throwing the baseball with confidence. It’s funny what that’ll do for you. He’s a super confident kid, trusted his stuff and our defense played really well behind him, no errors.”

SMSU first captured the lead in the second inning, when Keenan Wenzel hit a two-run homer to left field after a Max Kalenberg single. 

Jake Tauer followed Wenzel’s home run with a single and, after consecutive Mustang outs, he advanced to second on a Chase McDaniel single and scored on an Isaac Nett double. McDaniel was caught trying to run home for an extra run but SMSU still exited the inning with a 3-0 lead.

“It just gives you some breathing room. You know you’ve got your best guy on the mound, they got their best guy on the mound, and a sixth-year senior steps up and cracks a two-run home run on a hanging slider, it just lets the guys play a little freer,” Ische said. “It allows them to go play a little harder. If you’ve got a two-run lead in a conference tournament baseball game, two runs can feel like six… that was a huge hit. It got the guys fired up and got some energy going.”

Jake Osowski recorded the first loss on his record this season for Minnesota Crookston. Coming into Wednesday with a perfect 9-0 mark on the season and a 25-2 career record, the Mustang offense lit him up for six runs in five innings. He surrendered 12 hits and a walk while striking out two batters before being pulled at the start of the sixth inning.

“Kid’s a winner. He’s talented, throws a ton of strikes. He gives them a chance to win every time,” Ische said of Osowski. “He’s a great player too, but Kolby Kiser was just sharper and he competed and our guys played really well behind him.”

The senior duo of Nett and Wenzel led the SMSU offense on the day. Nett finished with a team-high three hits and two RBIs while Wenzel had two hits and three RBIs. Nett was also the only player on either team with multiple extra-base hits.

In addition to the RBI double he hit in the second inning, Nett’s other extra-base hit was a solo home run with two outs in the fourth inning. The shot to right field gave SMSU a 6-0 advantage on the day.

Jaxon Haase gave SMSU a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning when he followed up an Owen Latendresse single with an RBI double. From there, he advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Wenzel sacrifice fly to left field to give SMSU a five-run cushion.

The Golden Eagles shut SMSU down for the rest of the game after turning to their bullpen but they lacked the run support to turn the game around. Isaac Roers pitched three perfect innings, holding SMSU without a hit, walk or run while striking out a pair of batters, while Carsen Barta limited SMSU to just a walk in a scoreless ninth inning.

Hjelle was the only Golden Eagle to reach base safely multiple times on the day, finishing with two hits and a walk as Minnesota Crookston suffered a shutout loss.

With the win, SMSU will now advance to play Minnesota State at Veterans Memorial Ballpark in Mandan, N.D. today at 3:30 p.m. With a win, they’ll advance to the NSIC semifinals on Friday. With a loss, the Mustangs will play again in the consolation bracket later tonight.

The Mustangs last faced off against the Mavericks in their regular-season finale, with Minnesota State claiming two of the three games but SMSU breaking up an 18-game losing streak against the Mavs in the middle.

“The guys know what they’re walking into. They know how talented Mankato is and they know how talented we are, playing with some confidence as well,” Ische said. “I think it’ll be a really fun, juicy, spicy baseball game tomorrow.

“I think it’ll be a pretty electric baseball game and I know our guys will be ready to go at 3:30 in Mandan on the turf field. We’ll see what shakes out. But we’ll get the boys ready to play, get them fired up and we’re looking to the opportunity.”

The Mustangs are still undecided on which pitcher they will start against Minnesota State, Ische said, but added that it will be a left-handed pitcher. 

Ryan Chmielewski and Carter Petron have the most innings pitched among lefties this year for the Mustangs, tossing 58 and 57 respectively, while Kobe Lovell has thrown another 17 innings. Petron has also compiled a 4.11 ERA for the team while Chmielewski and Lovell clock in at 7.14 and 10.06 respectively.