Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
MARSHALL, Minn. – With a stellar pitching performance from sophomore starter Dan Johnson, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (7-12, 5-5 NSIC) earned a split in a mid-week NSIC doubleheader with Southwest Minnesota State (7-9, 2-4 NSIC) on a windy day at Alumni Field. The Cougars won game one, 2-0, before falling in the second game, 5-2.

Johnson earned his second win of the year with five innings of shutout baseball. Mitchell Lyall earned his first save in the 2-0 win. Josh Rehwaldt and Noah Durkin had RBI for USF in the victory. Despite a standout pitching effort from junior Stuart Maes in game two, the Cougars offense couldn't come up with clutch hits in falling, 5-2. USF's pitching staff had another solid day, allowing just one earned run.

Over the past four games, the Cougars have four straight quality starts and a 0.58 ERA. They have allowed just 22 hits in 31 innings with 25 strikeouts and only eight walks. However, the hitting attack is hitting just .237 as the Cougars have split four games.

Now the Cougars will head to Bemidji State for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2, with doubleheaders scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on both days.

G1 – USF 2 SMSU 0 (7 innings)
Johnson and Lyall combined on a seven-inning four-hit shutout as USF defeated SMSU, 2-0 in game one. Johnson, who moved to 2-1 on the season, allowed just three hits over five innings with five strikeouts and two walks. He was also USF's last starting pitcher to throw a shutout, a 1-0 nine-inning four-hitter against Concordia St. Paul on May 1, 2016.

Lyall, who registered his first save of the season, worked two innings of shutdown relief pitching as he gave up just one hit on 22 pitches and had a strikeout as he retired six of the seven hitters he faced, including three on groundouts. USF, which had five hits, scored a run in the third and fifth innings.

USF received base hits from Noah Durkin, who also had an RBI, Brent Griffing-Jarvis, and Josh Rehwaldt, who had an RBI, Connor Merriam and Gunner Peterson. James Clark (0-2) was the hard luck loser for SMSU, working five innings and allowing three hits and an earned run.

The Cougars took an early lead as Rehwaldt's two-out run-scoring single scored Rob Johnson, who walked and stole second base.  After loading the bases in the fifth inning and not scoring, the Cougars were able to pad their lead with a run in the sixth as Merriam led off with a single and scored on Durkin's sacrifice fly for a 2-0 advantage.

G2 – SMSU 5 USF 2 (9 innings)
In game two, USF fell, 5-2, as Stuart Maes (1-2) was a hard luck loser after a quality start, USF's fourth in five games. Maes allowed six hits and four runs (three earned) in six innings of work and 75 pitches. He recorded a pair of strikeouts. After USF opened a 2-0 lead in the fifth, SMSU rallied for a four-spot in the bottom of the fifth inning, including a pair of unearned runs to pick up the 5-2 victory.

SMSU's Cole Peterson threw 8 1/3 innings (113 pitches) of eight-hit ball. He allowed two runs, both unearned, as he won for the fourth time this season. Shawn Williams finished up for SMSU, earning a save.

After Maes left, senior right-hander Zak Wallner entered the game in the seventh inning, working 2/3 of an inning. Christian Lazar finished the seventh with a strikeout before Cody Blackwell worked the eighth inning, allowing a run on three hits with a strikeout. USF's offense was led by Austin Richey, Matthew Minnick and Gunner Peterson, who all collected two hits. Rob Johnson, who scored a run, had his 10th steal in 11 attempts this season.

The Cougars broke out on top in game two with a pair of unearned runs off Peterson of in the 5th inning.  After Durkin singled with one out, SMSU committed a pair of errors to load the bases.  Durkin scored on Rehwaldt's RBI grounder when SMSU was unable to get an out. Then, the Cougars took a 2-0 lead on Matthew Minnick's RBI groundout. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, SMSU scored as two USF errors and three hits produced four runs off Maes. The Mustangs added a run on three hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 5-2 lead.