SIOUX FALLS -- Due to wet and unplayable field conditions in St. Cloud, Minn., the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball series between the University of Sioux Falls (4-16, 4-6 NSIC) and St. Cloud State (13-6, 6-1 NSIC) has been moved to Sioux Falls Stadium (Birdcage). The match up with the Huskies will be the first home games for the Cougars at their home park of the Birdcage - Sioux Falls Stadium.

The weekend series was originally set for March 30-31 and now will be played on March 29-30 at Sioux Falls Stadium. The two teams will play doubleheaders at 1:30/3:30 p.m. on both days. Entering play on Thursday, the Cougars are ninth in the league at 4-6 while SMSU is 6-1 and a half-game behind Augustana.

Opponent Review - SCSU
SCSU comes into the game, leading the league with a .340 batting average with a league-high 20 home runs and 150 RBIs. They defeated Northern State, 7-1 and 20-8 in a doubleheader on Wednesday. Directed by veteran coach Pat Dolan, SCSU is fourth in the league with a 4.39 earned run average with 141 strikeouts and 81 earned runs in 166 innings.

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. In cold conditions on March 22-23, USF defeated Winona State, 14-0 but lost 3-1, 5-1 and 4-3 in 13 innings. In its only win in Winona, USF rolled up a season-high 14 runs with 15 hits in a 14-0 decision. USF, which totaled 19 runs on 38 hits with 17 RBI in the series, dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to Winona State in 13 innings in the season final game of the series. Among the bright spots during the series was 15 2/3 innings of relief pitching in which the Cougars allowed just two runs and 10 hits in the four games against the Warriors. Also sophomore Brandon Roesler threw his second straight complete game in the win and Josh Rehwaldt hammered a grand slam. In splitting a double header with SMSU, Brent Jarvis hit a walk-off home run in the 11^th inning to give USF a 2-1 win. The Cougars lost game two, 8-7.

USF's offense was led by Josh Rehwaldt, who was 4-of-7 in the two games with three RBI, two doubles, six total bases and a .625 on-base percentage. With his big day, Rehwaldt jumped his average to .442. Dylan Gavin hit .429 with three hits in seven at bats and an RBI. He is now hitting .307 for the season.

In the opener against SMSU played at Ronken FIeld, USF played in its second straight extra inning affair (4-3 loss to Winona State in 13 innings on 3/23), winning this one as Jarvis went deep for the first time this year as he was leading off the 11^th inning. Stuart Maes (1-4) picked up the victory in relief as he worked 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. In fact, Maes shut down SMSU without a run or a hit in throwing just 16 pitches. Gavin started and allowed just one run on two hits in three innings. He threw 40 pitches, registering four strikeouts and just one walk. He was replaced by freshman Brandon Roesler, who tossed a sterling four innings of three-hit ball, recording a strikeout and keeping the Mustangs off the scoreboard. Roesler, who threw 54 pitches, has now thrown 11 straight scoreless innings across two games. In the eighth inning, he was spelled by junior Spencer Dokken, who didn't allow a run and just one hit in 1 1/3 innings.

Gavin led the USF offense with two hits as the Cougars totaled five hits for the game. SMSU had six hits but couldn't add a run off the USF staff in the final 10 innings of the game. SMSU starter Cole Peterson worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed just three hits and a run with eight strikeouts but did not figure in the decision. Alex Jorgensen (0-2) took the loss for SMSU as he gave up two hits and a run with five strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.

In game two, SMSU held off a late USF rally to pick up an 8-7 win in a slugfest and error-filled game. The two squads combined for 15 runs, 22 hits and five errors. After SMSU took a 5-2 lead, USF tied it with a big hit from Rehwaldt in the fourth inning. The Mustangs answered with three more in the fifth inning and held off the Cougars, who scored twice in the sixth inning but left the bases loaded. In the seventh frame, USF had the tying run on third with less than two outs but missed an opportunity to tie the game.

In game two vs SMSU, Rehwaldt led the USF offense with three hits and three RBI. Freshman shortstop Grant Lung had two hits and two runs scored for USF. Ben Heichel had three hits and five RBI for SMSU, which also had three hits from Nathan Kuhn. Luke Rysavy had his first career hit and RBI in game two.
 
How USF stands overall
USF ranks 13th in the league with a .248 batting average and has hit 11 home runs, which ranks tied for fourth in the NSIC, in 20 games. USF has a .316 on-base percentage and is slugging at .343. On the mound, the Cougars have a 5.37 ERA, which ranks seventh in the NSIC. The Cougars have allowed 182 hits, 97 earned runs with 102 strikeouts and a .288 batting average in throwing 144 2/3 innings.

USF, which was picked 11th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, is led by head coach Grant Hieb, who is 23-47 in his second season with the program.

Rehwaldt ranks third in the NSIC in hitting at .442
Junior first baseman Josh Rehwaldt continues to rake for the Cougars as he ranks third in the NSIC in hitting .442. Rehwaldt, who is sixth in the NSIC with a .482 on-base percentage, also ranks third in the league in hits with 34. on-base percentage at .482, is tied for second in hits and ninth in home runs with three. This season, he has 10 multi-hits games, including five base knocks in six trips on March 13 against Colorado School of Mines. He has an RBI in seven different games and multi-RBIs in five contests. 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 13 career HRs, 108 RBI, 180 hits, and 98 runs in making 117 career starts. He also has 26 multi RBI games and 56 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.

Freshman Brandon Roesler continues to shine
For the third straight outing, freshman right hander Brandon Roesler dominated an opponent lineup. He threw four scoreless innings against SMSU in a 2-1 win. He had a complete game with first career shutout in a 14-0 win over Winona State on March 22.  He registered a pair of complete games, facing 25 batters and tossing 89 pitches as he won the run-rule shortened win over Warriors.  Roesler sits 2-2 on the season with a 3.68 ERA with 15 strikeouts, eight walks and 30 hits allowed in 29 1/3 innings.  Two starts ago, he limited Bemidji State to just one run in a seven-inning complete game.

Senior Dylan Gavin doing double duty
Senior Dylan Gavin both starred hitting and pitching against WSU. On the season he is hitting .307 with 23 hits, six RBI and eight runs scored. Gavin is slugging .347 with a .350 OBP. Eight times, he has multi-hit games. In five starts this season, Gavin has a 1-3 record and 3.18 earned run averaged as he allowed 21 hits and 10 earned runs in 28 1/3 innings. He has gone at last 5 1/3 innings in all four of five starts and not allowed more than three runs in any of the starts. He has 20 strikeouts, including a career-best eight against Rogers State on March 2.