SIOUX FALLS --  The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (4-9, 2-2 NSIC) will continue an eight-game home stand as Minnesota Crookston (7-9, 1-3 NSIC) comes to town with doubleheaders starting at 1 and 3 p.m., on Saturday, March 25 and Sunday, March 27 at the Birdcage (Sioux Falls Stadium).
 
The games this weekend represent the first home games at the Birdcage for USF, which hosted SCSU in its home opener last weekend at Ronken Field at Karras Park.
 
Weather - Rain is forecast for Thursday and Friday so check the status of the games at usfcougars.com.  
 
USF opens NSIC with split with SCSU, including 2 walk offs
In a drama-filled Monday (March 20) USF used walk off hits from Matthew Minnick and Trevor Crow to sweep a NSIC doubleheader over St. Cloud State at Ronken Field. The 5-4 and 7-6 victories were the first of the season for USF in league play. 
 
Breaking Down the Golden Eagles
Minnesota-Crookston, which is 7-9 overall and 1-3 in league play, opened the season, 3-2 but have won three of its last seven games. They were 1-3 at Winona State, although they picked up an 11-6 win in the final. The Golden Eagles rank 11th in the league in hitting at 254, scoring 63 runs in 16 games. However, they have pitched solidly with an ERA of 4.24 with 90 strikeouts. They rank seventh in the NSIC in fielding with a .964 fielding percentage. Reed Hjelle leads the team with a .356 batting average and has 12 RBI and an OBP of .424. Anthony Stewart is hitting .302 with seven stolen bases. The starting staff has been solid with Cody Pamperin (1-1, 2.38 ERA, four starts, 22.2 innings, 16 strikeouts), Jayden Grover (0-1, 2.81 ERA, four starts, 25 2/3 innings, 19 strikeouts) and Justin Yutzenka (2-0, 3.27 ERA, 22 innings, 14 strikeouts).
 
USF owns a two-game win streak
Sioux Falls, led by first year head coach Grant Hieb, will look to build on a 4-9 start including 2-2 on league play. With the two wins on Monday, USF has a two-game winning streak for the first time this season.
 
As a team, USF is hitting .311, which ranks third in the NSIC. The Cougars have 146 hits and 111 runs, which ranks second in the league. Through 13 games, USF has a .469 slugging percentage and .404 OBP. The Cougars have pilfered 29 bases, which ranks second in the league and have done it in 37 attempts for .784 success rate.  
USF ranks 15th with a 9.58 ERA while sitting eighth in fielding with a .963 fielding percentage and have turned nine double plays.
 
Situational Numbers
USF is .hitting .293 (46-of-157) with runners in scoring position and have converted at a .642 rate (34-of-53) with runners on third and less than two outs. In advancing runners, the Cougars have been successful in 119-of-245 occasions for .486.  USF, which has 13 two-out RBI, is batting .301 (66-of-219) with runners on and 8-of-20 for .320 with bases loaded. USF is hitting .304 (28-of-92) against left handers and .313 (104-of-332) against right handed pitchers.
 
Numbers to Ponder
USF has been outscored, 119-to-86 this year, but held its own down the stretch of games. USF has a 17-to-12 scoring advantage in eighth, ninth and extra innings. USF's best inning has been the fifth where they have scored 18 total runs. When USF leads after six inning, they are 3-1 but 0-7 when trailing after six innings. When USF scores first, they are 4-4 but 0-5 when the opponent scores first. The Cougars are 4-0 when they outhit their opponent.
 
USF hitters off to fast start - several among NSIC leaders
Johnson ranks in NSIC top 10 in hitting, OBP – In 11 games junior centerfielder Rob Johnson is hitting .457 (second on the team, sixth in the NSIC) with 16 hits in 35 at bats and seven walks. He has a home run and four doubles among his hits and an OBP of .545, which ranks sixth in the NSIC. He owns a .686 slugging pct, which ranks 11th in the league. 
 
Jarvis ranks in NSIC's top 10 in four hitting categories – Brent Jarvis is off to a fast start for the Cougars. He ranks in the top 10 in the NSIC in four hitting categories. He is fourth in batting average at .467, second in on-base pct., .579, sixth in hits with 21 while sitting ninth in slugging percentage at. 689. He has four games with three or more hits, including a career best 6-of-6 vs. Nebraska-Kearney, in 13 games played.   11-of-15 performance in which Jarvis raised his batting average to .467 with a team-high 14 hits in 30 at bats. He has six RBI, .700 slugging percentage and an OBP of .600.
 
Crow ranks seventh in NSIC in slugging - Senior outfielder Trevor Crow is hitting .386 with 17 hits, and a slugging percentage of .705, which ranks seventh in the NSIC. Crow, who has three home runs and 10 RBI, had a walk off single in a 7-6 win over St. Cloud State on Monday. Crow has an OBP of .438 and a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000 on 23 chances.
 
Merriam league leader in HRs with 5 - Junior catcher Connor Merriam, who is hitting .341, has an NSIC-best five home runs this season He hit two in a 15-13 loss to SCSU on March 19. Merriam has a .795 slugging percentage which ranks second in the league. He has 13 RBIs and a .380 OBP while owning a .972 fielding percentage. Merriam, who caught all 54 games a year ago, has started all 13 games this season, a run of 67 straight games.  
 
Peterson raises average to .326 – Senior shortstop Gunner Peterson is hitting .326 with 15 hits in 46 at bats. He has a .370 slugging percentage and .392 OBP.
 
Josh Rehwaldt leads team with 13 RBI – A sophomore first baseman, Josh Rehwaldt, who has a five-game hitting streak, has pushed his average to .346 after going 7-of-12 in the final three games of the SCSU series. In a pair of walk off wins vs the Huskies, he scored the winning run. He ranks 14th in the NSIC with 13 RBI.  He has three multi RBI games and six multiple hit games, which is tied with Rob Johnson for the team lead. He has reached base in nine straight games.
 
Mound Assessment: USF's pitching beginning to stabilize
After a rocky start to the season, the Cougars staff has stabilized.  As a result through 13 games, USF has a 9.58 ERA in 98 2/3 innings with 58 strikeouts but 79 walks. Sophomore Dan Johnson has a team-best 2.70 ERA among the starters. He has a 1-1 mark with 13 1/3 innings. He has recorded six strikeouts and walked 11 hitters. In his most recent outing, Johnson limited SCSU to one run and four hits over six innings in a no decision. In his most recent start, senior Zach Miller (0-3, 3 starts, 12 innings, 23 hits, 19 runs, six strikeouts, 14.25 ERA) worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits. It was his longest outing of the season. Senior Zak Wallner (0-0, four appearances, three starts, 6.11 ERA, 17 2/3 innings, 12 earned runs and 12 strikeouts) had a strong outing against SCSU on Monday, working six innings shutout innings before tiring and allowing a grand slam in the seventh inning. However, USF rallied for the win, which left Wallner with a no decision. The bullpen is led by sophomore Mitchell Lyall (0-0, 5.68 ERA, 6 1/3 innings, four strikeouts), Cody Blackwell (1-0, 4.91 ERA, 7 1/3 innings, six strikeouts), among others. Blackwell picked up his first win in the 5-4 walkoff win against SCSU on Monday. Freshman Keenahn Coyle is 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in five appearances and 11 1/3 innings.