PITTSBURG, KAN. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team, which recorded a program-D2-best 21 wins and reached the NSIC Tournament for the first time in 2016, will open the 2017 season against Pittsburg State (Kan.) on Saturday, Feb. 11 as part of a three-game series. The Cougars will face PSU in a double header at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday with a single game scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 12 at 1 p.m.

USF, which registered the most wins for the program since registering 24 in 2011, is directed by first-year head coach Grant Hieb. The Cougars return eight starters and 25 letter winners. USF's home opener will be against St. Cloud State on March 18 at Sioux Falls Stadium (The Birdcage), the new home for USF baseball. The Cougars finished 2016 with 14 league victories, which tied the 2015 team for the most in the D2 era. For the third straight year, USF had an All-NSIC selection (Henry Ojeda, 2014; Matthew Minnick, 2015; and Dylan Gavin, 2016).

Pittsburg State sits 0-4
In the opener, USF will take on Pittsburg State (Kan.), which is off to a slow start. The Gorillas, guided by head coach Tom Myers, has lost to Arkansas-Fort Smith, 8-2 and 6-5 and also dropped decisions to Henderson State, 9-2 and 4-2. PSU is hitting .210 with one home run and 10 RBIs on the season and own a 4.72 ERA.

Breaking down USF

The Cougars returns a standout group on offense, led by NSIC Player to Watch Matthew Minnick, who has a career average of .358. Minnick, a 6-2, 200 pound junior outfielder/designated hitter from Rapid City, S.D., has accumulated 126 hits, 81 runs, 78 RBI, 30 doubles, 15 home runs, and 205 total bases in two years with the Cougars. An all-league selection two years ago, Minnick, who has made 95 starts in 96 games, has recorded 32 multi-hit games, including 10 games of three hits, and seven games of four hits. A criminal justice major, he has 20 multi-RBI games with four games of three or more RBI. In two years, he has 13 stolen bases and a .582 slugging percentage. A year ago, he had a batting average of .348 with 62 hits, 37 runs, 36 RBI, 14 doubles, six home runs, and 94 total bases, stole eight bases and had 15 multi-hit games.

Zach Miller, a 5-11, 185 left handed pitcher from Goodyear, Ariz., will be one of the leaders of USF's pitching corps. A criminal justice major, Miller, who was also named an NSIC Player to Watch, is slated to start game one against PSU. He started 11 games a year ago and 14 appearances overall. In his only season with the Cougars, he was 2-7 in 73.1 innings with a 5.15 ERA. He had 48 strikeouts, including three games with five or more. Along with Dylan Gavin, who was 8-1 with a 4.80 ERA a year ago, are among the leaders of USF's pitching staff.

Also slated to start against PSU in games two and three will be redshirt senior Zak Wallner of Amherst, Wisc., and Dan Johnson, a sophomore from Oceanside, Calif. Wallner was 1-2 in 14 appearances a year ago with a 12.00 ERA in 21 innings and 19 strikeouts. Johnson was 2-6 with a 6.86 ERA in 10 appearances in 2016. He had 22 strikeouts in 42 innings of work. Others expected to pitch for USF include Mitchell Lyall, a sophomore from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada (0-1, 17 appearances, 2 game starts, 13 strikeouts); junior Stewart Maes of Minnetonka, Minn. (0-2, nine appearances, 14 innings pitched, 7.07 ERA, 10 strikeouts), junior Connor Oestreich of Minnetonka, Minn. (1-0, 11 appearances, seven strikeouts, 10.1 innings), senior Ryan Patrick, a senior from McKinleyville, Calif. (2-3, 7.08 ERA, 13 appearances, 20.1 innings, six strikeouts), Chris Thompson, a senior from Sioux City, Iowa (3-1, 7.41 ERA, 18 appearances, 17 innings, 14 strikeouts, two saves); junior Dylan Gavin of Pueblo, Colo.; among others.

As for the offense, Minnick is one of seven returnees who hit over .300 for USF, which hit .324 as a year for fifth in the league. USF also returns standouts in 3B/P Dylan Gavin, who was named 2nd team All-NSIC a year ago (8-1, 4.80 ERA, .331, 5 HRs, 31 RBI; career - .331, 45 games, 5 HR, 31 RBI, .475 slugging, .397 OBP, .959 slugging pct.); CF Rob Johnson (.323, 4 HR, 34 RBI, 9 SB; career -- .315, 73 games, 71 starts, ), 1B Josh Rehwaldt (.367, 4 HR, team-high 41 RBI), 2B/3B/OF Brent Jarvis (.322, 4 HR, 27 RBI, .429 OBP, team-high 12 steals; career -- .279, 94 games, 91 starts, 6 HR, 50 RBI, .417 slugging pct., .377 OBP, 23 SB, 162 assists, .935 fielding pct.), outfielder Trevor Crow (.308, 46 games, 45 starts, 1 HR, 25 RBI, .410 slugging pct., .351 OBP, 5 SB, .960 fielding, seven assists; career -- .284, 126 games, 117 starts, .377 slugging pct., .346 OBP, 16 SB, .984 fielding, 15 assists) and catcher Connor Merriam (.309, 4 HR, 32 RBI, .417 OBP, caught all 52 G; 32 assists; career -- .296, 88 games, 86 starts, 6 HR, 45 RBI, .432 slugging pct., .408 OBP, 6 SB, .989 fielding, 52 assists). In addition, outfielder Noah Durkin, who missed all of last season, but hit .361 three years ago and .279 two years ago (career - .319, 141 games, 139 starts, 4 HR, 61 RBI, 19 SB, .419 slugging pct., .378 OBP, .972 fielding pct., 17 assists), is back.  

Hieb begins first year at helm
Hieb, who has served as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Sioux Falls for the past three years, is in his first season as the head baseball coach for the USF Program. Hieb takes over for Matt Guiliano, who moved onto the head coaching job at Cal-State-San. Marcos. Hieb has been part of the staff that steered the Cougars through the challenging transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II athletics.  In 2003, Hieb earned a Bachelor's degree in wellness from USF. Prior to attending USF, Hieb graduated from Sioux Falls (SD) Lincoln High School and played for Sioux Falls Post 15 East.  Aside from his work at USF, Hieb coached the Brandon Valley (S.D.) Senior American Legion baseball team for the past five summers, leading them to three Class A State Tournaments with the 2013 team finishing runner-up.  After graduating from USF, Hieb joined former USF head coach Luke Langenfeld's staff as a student assistant. After coaching the fall season, he moved to Henderson, Nev., where he served as an assistant baseball coach at Foothill High School in the fall of 2007 through the spring of 2008. He returned to USF in 2009 when Guiliano hired him as an assistant coach. Hieb was a standout collegiate player, beginning his career as a rightfielder/pitcher for Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa. At Iowa Lakes, he hit .391 as a sophomore, earning first-team all-region honors. He transferred to Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa, where he was named Academic All-Conference. He hit leadoff for Grand View, hitting .343 with an on-base percentage of .471. Hieb transferred to USF for his senior season and led the team in hitting at .395, hits with 58 and on-base percentage at .473. A right fielder, he was named All-Great Plains Athletic Conference first team.