SIOUX FALLS. – Due to likelihood of inclement weather conditions this weekend, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball series between the University of Sioux Falls and Winona State has moved up to Thursday and Friday, March 22-23.

USF, which will try and build on its 2-2 mark last weekend,  and Winona State will play a doubleheader on both days at Loughrey Field in Winona, Minn. On Thursday, March 22, a doubleheader will be held at 3/5 p.m. USF-WSU will also play a doubleheader at 1:30/3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 24. Live stats and live video will be available on both days.

The Cougars recently split a four-game series with Bemidji State in the NSIC opening weekend. With the two victories, USF picked up 2-1 and 3-1 victories and lost 4-2 and 7-3 as they improved to 2-12 overall and sit 2-2 in league play.

Opponent Preview -
Winona State is 2-9 overall and 1-3 in the NSIC after going 1-3 against Minot State. The Warriors defeated Minot State, 7-5 but lost 11-5, 9-7 and 9-5 on the road. This weekend's games with USF will be their first home games of the season.  The Warriors are hitting .266 for 10th in the league. They have slugged seven home runs, own a .339 on-base percentage and .356 slugging mark. On the mound, WSU ranks 12th in the league with a 7.58 ERA, allowing 73 earned runs in 86 2/3 innings. Leading the hitting attack is Zac Stange at .368 with two home runs and seven RBIs and a .478 on-base percentage. Andrew Pliner is hitting. 341 with a .362 OBP while both Taylor Field and Sam Kohle are hitting .326. In the mound, Dillon Whittaker is 1-0 in two starts with a 6.91 ERA. Caleb Schoenholz is 0-2 in three starts with a 5.60 ERA.
 
Quick take on Cougars
Weather has been an issue thus far this spring. The Cougars opened the NSIC with a 2-2 mark against Bemidji State by playing at two high school fields in Omaha and Plattsmouth, Nebraska.  Over the past four games, USF's pitching was solid, sporting a 3.38 ERA. The Cougars allowed 13 earned runs and 27 hits in 32 innings of work.  However, USF hit just .233 and didn't have a home run during the four games, played in cold and overcast conditions.

Freshman Brandon Roesler comes up big vs BSU
On March 20, freshman right hander Brandon Roesler, a freshman from Kindred, Neb., handcuffed Bemidji State hitters as he moved to 1-2 with his first complete game of the season and his career. In throwing just 64 pitches, the freshman allowed just two hits while recording four strikeouts and walking one hitter in the seven-inning career-best pitching performance. On the season, he has a 5.89 ERA with nine strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings.

Dylan Gavin continues to shine doing double duty
Senior Dylan Gavin had a solid weekend against Bemidji State, both at the plate and on the mound. Gavin, a senior from Pueblo, Colo., moved to 1-2 by tossing his third straight stellar performance in a 2-1 win over Bemidji State. He also hit .333 with four hits in 12 at bats and three runs scored. On the mound, he had a 1.50 ERA, going 1-0 with a six-inning win when he allowed just three hits and a run and four strikeouts. On the season, Gavin is hitting .245 with a .302 slugging mark in 14 games. On the mound, he leads USF starters with a 2.70 ERA and has held opponents to a .176 batting average. In 20 1/3 innings, he has allowed six earned runs in three starts and has a team-high 14 strikeouts.

Junior Spencer Dokken splendid in relief
Junior righthander Spencer Dokken was stellar in relief, with a 1.93 ERA in two appearances, allowing just four hits and one run with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. He also recorded his first save of the season. He now has a 3.86 ERA in six appearances with 10 strikeouts and four earned runs in 9 1/3 innings.

Johnson has big weekend against BSU
Senior centerfielder Rob Johnson hit .643 over a four-game series with Bemidji State, rapping nine hits in 14 at bats with two runs scores, four RBI and 13 total bases in helping the Cougars split a doubleheader with the Beavers.  In four-game series had a .929 slugging percentage, .643 on-base percentage, stole three bases and fielded 1.000 percent. As a result, Johnson has pushed his averaged to .294 with a .471 slugging mark and .33 OBP, which is second to Josh Rehwaldt (.475).  Johnson, who has 12 hits in his last 27 at bats, has jumped his averaged 170 points in the past seven games. He now has 15 hits, six doubles, eight RBI and four stolen bases.  He has raised his career total to 146 hits, with 29 doubles, eight home runs, 73 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.

USF comes into series hitting .237 with nine home runs
Entering NSIC play, USF ranks 14th in the league with a .237 batting average and have hit nine home runs, which ranks fifth in the NSIC, in 14 games. USF has a .299 on-base percentage and is slugging at .339. On the mound, the Cougars have a 6.19 ERA, allowing 135 hits and 78 earned runs in 113 1/3 innings.

USF, which was picked 11th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, is led by head coach Grant Hieb, who is 21-43 in his second season with the program. The Cougars opened the season with three straight losses to Metro State when they were outscored 36-to-13. In a four-game series in Springfield, Mo., the Cougars' offense struggled at .172 over four games and no extra base hits as Rogers State and Drury won four straight games to send USF to 0-7 on the season.  Against Colorado School of Mines, USF scored 22 runs with 33 hits and swatted six home runs, including a season-best four in a heart-breaking 13-12 setback. In that game, Matthew Minnick, who had a season-best five hits and four RBI, slammed a three-run home run for a 10-6 lead but CSM rallied to win in walk-off style in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the NSIC season opener, the Cougars split with Bemidji State, the Cougars hit .233 with 27 hits in 116 at bats, knocking in nine RBI. Rob Johnson led the way with a .643 batting average as he had nine hits I n14 at bats with four doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored. He stole four bases and 12 total bases.

Rehwaldt continues to lead Cougars in hitting at .437
The team leader in hits with 23 (7th, NSIC), Rehwaldt has a .437 batting average, which ranks seventh in the NSIC while his .475 on-base percentage stands 10th in the league. This season, he has five multi-hits games, including five base knocks in six trips on March 13 against Colorado School of Mines. He has an RBI in six different games and multi-RBIs in three contests.

Junior first baseman Josh Rehwaldt hit .727 in the opening weekend of play (Metro State, Feb. 16-18) and picked up his first-ever Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Week honor on Feb. 20. Rehwaldt, a 6-6, 240 pound standout from Burnsville, Minn., registered eight hits in 11 at bats (.727) against Metro State. He also had two home runs, six RBIs and two runs scored. Rehwaldt was named by NSIC coaches as "Player to Watch" in the preseason.

Rehwaldt, a business major at USF, has 12 career HRs, 100 RBI, 169 hits, and 94 runs in making 111 career starts. He also has 24 multi RBI games and 52 multi-hit games. A year ago Rehwaldt was named to the All-NSIC first team after ranking in top 10 in eight NSIC hitting categories. He also became USF's first-ever NCAA DII all-region player with his selection to the 2017 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) DII squad.

Merriam leading USF with three home runs
Connor Merriam, who ranks third on USF with 13 hits, has found his home run bat with three home runs, which is sixth in the NSIC. In his career, the senior catcher has totaled 14 home runs and 75 RBI. He is hitting .255, slugging. 471 with a .296 on-base percentage.