Baseball | 4/6/2018 3:12:00 PM

SIOUX FALLS -- With the field conditions unplayable in Crookston, Minn., The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (6-18, 6-8 NSIC) will face Minnesota Crookston (12-17, 2-12 NSIC) at the Birdcage (Sioux Falls Stadium) on Saturday, April 7 and weather permitting on Sunday, April 8.  The two teams will play NSIC doubleheaders at 1:30/3:30 p.m. on Saturday and noon and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Last week, the Cougars finished 3-3 in six games against SMSU (1-1) and SCSU (2-2). Behind the combined pitching of Dylan Gavin, Brandon Roesler, Spencer Dokken and Stuart Maes, who recorded his first win of the season, USF defeated SMSU, 2-1, in 11 innings in the opener as Brent Jarvis slammed a walk-off solo shot for the win. USF fell in a slugfest with SMSU, 8-7, in game two. USF and SCSU split a series, 2-2, when the games were moved to the Birdcage after SCSU's fields were deemed unplayable. After SCSU took the first two games, 10-5, 11-1, the Cougars registered a 3-1 win as Gavin threw a complete game two-hitter and then opened up a 7-0 lead before registering a 10-9 win in 10 innings in the back half of the day two doubleheader.

USF swept an NSIC doubleheader for the first time this season and the first time since taking two from Upper Iowa (11-1, 20-2) on April 23, 2017 at the Birdcage. It is the second straight year that USF and SCSU finished 2-2 with both teams sweeping a doubleheader. USF took two from SCSU on March 20 (5-4, 7-6) at the Birdcage.

With injuries knocking out several starters, USF has turned to a couple of freshmen, who made starts in the last series with SCSU. Freshman Ryan Meyer (.286 BA) played third base and Alex Elizondo started a pair of games at catcher as they made their first career starts.

Also for USF, senior Matthew Minnick hit .286 (6-of-21) with four runs, two doubles, home run, six RBI, .524 slugging pct., and .348 OBP in the four-game set with SCSU.

Opponent Review -  Minnesota Crookston
The Golden Eagles, directed by fourth year head coach Steve Gust, recorded two straight wins (5-4, 12-0) over U-Mary on April 4, which ended a 12-game losing streak. UMC comes into the matchup with USF ranking ninth in hitting at .273. They have scored 150 runs with 248 hits, 10 triples, 17 home runs and 133 RBIs. UMC, which is fielding at .953, ranks ninth in pitching with a 5.73 earned run average. Teams are batting .287 against UMC pitchers who have 217 strikeouts and walked 112 batters. Reed Hjelle leads the team in hitting at .375 with three home runs and 29 RBIs. Anthony Stewart is the team's other .300 plus hitter at .361 and he has four home runs and 24 RBI. Ethan Mushitz, who is hitting .295, has a team best five home runs. Parker Hanson (1-5) is one of three starters with seven starters and has a 3.89 ERA. Justin Yutrzenka (1-2) has a 7.20 earned run average and Zach Rustad (1-4) has a 7.22 earned run average. Zach Seipel has been the stopper out of the pen with a 2.75 earned run average and five saves.

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 11th inning to give USF a 2-1 win. The Cougars lost game two, 8-7.  USF and SCSU split a pair of doubleheaders on March 29-30.

How USF stands overall
USF ranks 14th in the league with a .245 batting average and has hit 14 home runs, which ranks tied for seventh in the NSIC, in 24 games. USF has a .312 on-base percentage and is slugging at .344. On the mound, the Cougars have a 5.68 ERA, which ranks seventh in the NSIC. The Cougars have allowed 217 hits, 121 earned runs with 114 strikeouts and a .289 batting average in throwing 191 2/3 innings.
USF, which was picked 11th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, is led by head coach Grant Hieb, who is 25-49 in his second season with the program.
 
Rehwaldt ranks third in the NSIC in hitting at .440
Junior first baseman Josh Rehwaldt continues to rake for the Cougars as he ranks 13th in NCAA DII and third in the NSIC with a .440 average. He hit .476 (10-of-21) with four doubles, two home runs, five runs scored and seven RBI, along with a .952 slugging percentage and .542 OBP in six games last week. Rehwaldt, who has 12 multi-hit games this season, ranks second in the NSIC in slugging at .670 while sitting fourth in on-base percentage at .485. He is second in the NSIC in hits with 40 and sits second in home runs with five. Rehwaldt has 21 RBIs, 61 total bases and six stolen bases.  He had five base knocks in six trips on March 13 against Colorado School of Mines. He has an RBI in 11 different games and multi-RBIs in five contests. He has registered RBIs in five straight games and has a season best five RBI against Winona State on March 22 on the road. 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 15 career HRs, 111 RBI, 186 hits, and 102 runs in making 122 career starts. Rehwaldt has a career slugging mark of .583 with an on-base mark of .424 and 23 steals. He also has 26 multi RBI games and 59 multi-hit games. He has 58 games with two or more hits, 21 games with three or more hits and three with four hits or more, including twice recording five hits in a game. 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 fourth straight outing, freshman right hander Brandon Roesler put together a solid start as he worked five innings and allowed just two earned runs. Roesler made two starts last week, tossing four innings of three-hit baseball with four strikeouts in a no-decision against SMSU (2-1 win in 11 innings) on Marc 27. Then, he worked five innings of a 10-9 win over SCSU in 10 innings. He allowed five hits and two runs in the outing, allowing an earned run after 15 consecutive scoreless innings, a team-best this season. Earlier, 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 3.67 ERA with 10 walks and 34 hits allowed in 34 1/3 innings.  Three starts ago, he limited Bemidji State to just one run in a seven-inning complete game.
 
Dylan Gavin doing double duty
Senior Dylan Gavin is handling double duty for USF. On the season he is hitting .287 with 25 hits, seven RBI and 10 runs scored. Gavin is slugging .322 with a .350 333. Eight times, he has multi-hit games. In six starts on the mound this season, Gavin has a 2-3 record and 2.80 earned run averaged as he has allowed 23 hits and 11 earned runs in 35 1/3 innings. He has gone at last 5 1/3 innings in all five of six starts and not allowed more than three runs in any of the starts. He has 22 strikeouts, including a career-best eight against Rogers State on March 2. In two starts last week, he had a 1.80 earned run average in two starts, allowing four hits and two runs in 10 innings. He threw a complete game two-hitter in 3-1 victory over SCSU on March 30, going seven innings with two strikeouts with four walks and throwing 88 pitches. He started but was not involved in decision in USF's 2-1 11-inning win over SMSU on March 26, allowing just two hits and one run in three innings with four strikeouts among his 40 pitches.