SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (1-5) will begin its busiest stretch of the season with seven nonconference and league games part of the mix from March 13-19. The Cougars will face Nebraska-Kearney and Colorado School of Mines on the road before opening its home season against St. Cloud State.  

After a two week layoff, the Cougars will travel to Nebraska-Kearney (7-8) for a single 9-inning game at 3 p.m. on Monday, March 13 in Kearney, Neb. They will then head to Golden, Colo., to face Colorado School of Mines (6-5) for a doubleheader, beginning at 3 p.m. on March 14. The second game is scheduled for 6 p.m.

At the end of the week, USF will open the NSIC season at home by hosting St. Cloud State (3-3) in a pair of doubleheaders on March 18-19 at Sioux Falls Stadium (Birdcage). In what will be USF's home opener at the Birdcage, the Cougars and Huskies will play a doubleheader at noon and 2 p.m. on both days.

Quick review of USF
Sioux Falls, led by first year head coach Grant Hieb, will look to improve on a 1-5 start in which the Cougars had plenty of offense but have stabilized its pitching.  In its most recent action on Feb. 25-26 in Denver, USF Lost 2-of-3 to Metro State, falling 6-4 before winning 7-4 in 11 innings and dropping 6-4 decision in the final.
USF recorded its first win of season, rallying for a 7-4 victory in 11 innings as Austin Richey and Brent Jarvis had triples for USF in the victory over Metro State. The win was the first in career for head coach Grant Hieb in his first season at USF.
 
As a team, the Cougars are hitting .296 with a .490 slugging percentage and .398 OBP. The Cougars have four steals, .946 fielding percentage and 23 total extra base hits. The Cougars have produced 37 RBI, led by nine from Trevor Crow and six each from Connor Merriam and Josh Rehwaldt. USF is .hitting .250 (19-of-76) with runners in scoring position and have converted at a .571 rate (16-of-28) with runners on third and less than two outs. In advancing runners, the Cougars have been successful in 55-of-119 occasions for .462.  USF is batting .271 (29-of-107) with runners on and 4-of-14 for .286 with bases loaded. In leading off innings, USF is hitting .440 on 22-of-50 hitting.

USF hitters off to fast start
Johnson has .667 OBP - Through six games junior centerfielder Rob Johnson is hitting .545 (four games) with six hits in eight at bats and three walks. He has four doubles among his hits and an OBP of .667. He owns a .909 slugging pct.  

Crow leads Cougars with nine RBI - Senior outfielder Trevor Crow is hitting .478 with 11 hits, slugging percentage of 1.043, OBP of .500, three HRs and a team-best nine RBI. Crow, who is 5-of-12 (.417) with runners on base and 3-of-7 for .429 with runners in in scoring position. He also leads USF with 24 total bases. He has also a .615 percentage (8-of-13) in advancing runners.

Merriam hitting .409 - Junior catcher Connor Merriam, who is hitting .409, has nine hits, two HR and six RBI with a slugging percentage of .773.  Like Crow, he has produced with runners on base, hitting .412 (7-of-17) in those situations. With runners on third and less than two out, Merriam is 4-of-6 for .667. He has also hit .545 (6-of-11) in advancing runners. With runners in scoring position Merriam is hitting .429 (3-of-7).

Jarvis has six hits vs. Metro State – With six hits in 13 at bats against Metro State, junior second baseman Brent Jarvis is hitting .389 with slugging mark of .667 and OBP of .607. He has a .556 percentage (5-of-9) in advancing runners.

On the mound
After a rocky start to the season, the Cougars staff stabilized against Metro State, allowing a combined 19 runs in three games. In the opening three games, they allowed 48 runs.  As a result through six games, USF has a 10.72 ERA in 45 1/3 innings with 27 strikeouts but 45 walks.

Sophomore Dan Johnson has a team-best 5.06 ERA among the starters. He has worked 5 1/3 innings in two starts with three strikeouts and six walks. He has allowed three earned runs with his record at 0-1. Senior Zach Miller (0-2, 2 starts, 4 23 innings, 11 hits, 11 runs, 5 strikeouts, 21.21.00 ERA), and senior Zak Wallner (0-0, two starts, 7.45 ERA, 9 2/3 innings, eight earned runs and eight strikeouts). The bullpen is led by sophomore Mitchell Lyall (0-0, 3.60 ERA, four appearances, five innings, two strikeouts),

Also for USF, Stuart Maes (5.40 ERA, five innings) sits 1-0 after earning his first career win in the 7-4 victory over Metro State. In that game, he worked four innings and allowed four hits and two runs with two strikeouts.  Freshman Keenahn Coyle (0-1, 6.35 ERA, three appearances, 5 2/3 innings, four earned runs, two strikeouts) also had an effective performance against Metro State, working four innings and allowing just three hits and one run in a 6-4 loss.