KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (2-10) used explosive offense and shutdown pitching to sweep a doubleheader from Notre Dame (5-7), 13-0 and 8-5 on Monday. USF is now 2-4 on their spring trip and finish with a game against Northwood (Mich.) on Tuesday.

USF pitchers Matt Graham and Christian Lazar both earned their first wins of the season. Graham was part of a game one 13-0 shutout while Lazar provided stellar relief in an 8-5 game two victory. On offense, USF was led by several hitters as the Cougars hit .436 as a team which raised the season average to .246.

Freshman outfielder Kyle Gulbrandson hit .750 with three hits in four at bats while knocking in four runs and stealing a base. Alex Robinson had three hits in five at bats (.600) with three RBI and also walked three times as he had a .778 on-base percentage. Sophomore shortstop Grant Lung had four hits in seven at bats with four runs scored with five RBI. Sophomore Ryan Meyer hit .500 with three hits in six ab bats while both Ryan Bernardy and Josh Rehwaldt hit .429 on the day with three hits in seven at bats and four runs scored with two RBI. Freshman Connor King and Brennan Gabriel also collected two hits as USF recorded 21 runs on 24 hits with 18 RBI as they ended their 10-game losing streak to open the season.

After losing a pair of one run games on Saturday, the Cougars rebounded with their best two-game performance on offense. USF's pitching was also stellar as six pitchers (Graham, Lazar, Charles Roskowiak, Spencer Dokken, John Berroth and Payton Livingston) combined for a 0.64 earned run averaged. They allowed just one earned run and 14 hits in 14 innings while registering 11 strikeouts. They held NDC to a .246 batting average, which is the lowest output of the season across two games by a USF opponent.  

Game 1 – Sioux Falls 13 Notre Dame 0 (7 innings)
Graham threw 5 2/3 shutout innings and the USF offense broke out in a big way as the Cougars ended their 10-game losing streak with a dominating 13-0 nonconference win over Notre Dame.

Graham, a redshirt sophomore from Sioux Falls, S.D., moved to 1-0 on the season and is now 2-2 in his career. He allowed two hits and no runs with two strikeouts across 5 2/3 innings on the hill as he earned the win in his longest performance of the season. It was the second longest outing of his career. Roskowiak and Berroth finished up for USF. Roskowiak threw an inning of shutout relief and Berroth finished up by striking out the final NDC batter.

USF's offense was led by Rehwaldt, who homered, had two RBI and scored three runs. Lung had two hits and two RBI and also scored three times. Gulbrandson added two hits and three RBI as the Cougars had 13 runs on 11 hits.

Notre Dame starter Kevin Guzik (1-1) took the loss as he allowed seven hits and six runs (two earned) over two innings.

USF opened up a 2-0 lead over NDC in first inning after Gulbrandson had a two-run single to plate both Rehwaldt and Lung, who both had singles earlier in the inning. 

After Sam Michels opened the second inning with a base hit, USF added four runs in second inning as Lung, Bernardy and Robinson put together run-scoring singles as USF led, 6-0.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Rehwaldt hit his first home run of the season and seventh of his career as USF extended its lead to 7-0 over NDC. After Robinson walked with two outs, Gulbrandson singled. Then, USF pulled off a double steal as Robinson scored on NDC error for an 8-0 lead.
With the aid of four walks and a hits batsman plus a sacrifice fly by Gabriel, USF added to its lead with a four-run fifth inning and led, 12-0. In the sixth inning, USF had a triple from Connor King and a sacrifice fly by Lung to take a 13-0 advantage.

Sioux Falls 8 Notre Dame 5 (7 innings)
Led by another solid offensive performance, USF took an 8-4 decision to sweep the doubleheader from Notre Dame College (Ohio), which the Cougars faced for the first time.
Lung had two hits and three RBI while Bernardy had two hits and three runs scored with an RBI. Robinson provided two hits, including a triple, and had a pair of RBIs. Ryan Meyer also had a pair of singles in three at bats. USF finished with eight runs on 12 hits.

Lazar (1-0) picked up the win after throwing 3 1/3 innings of relief as he allowed four hits and one run in five strikeouts. Payton Livingston started and worked 3 1/3 innings with seven hits allowed and four runs (three earned) with three strikeouts. Dokken earned his first save of the season by retiring the final NDC hitter after the Falcons had loaded the bases.

NDC opened the scoring as Zach Santoro scored on a single by Joseph Paskell in the first inning. However, the Cougars had the answer by scoring five runs in the third inning to take a 5-1 advantage. After Meyer reached on an error and King was hit by a pitch, Lung had a two-run double to score both runners. Rehwaldt was walked and Bernardy had a run- scoring single to plate Lung. Rehwaldt scored on a single by Gulbrandson and Bernardy came home on an RBI ground out by Gabriel.

NDC scored an unearned run in the third inning to cut the deficit to 5-2. USF added a run in the top of the fourth inning after Robinson tripled to score Bernardy who had singled.  In the sixth inning, Robinson's RBI single plated Bernardy as USF took a 7-4 lead. In the 7th inning, USF pushed their lead to 8-4 when King walked, stole second and third and scored on an RBI single by Lung. NDC scored one run in the bottom of the seventh and loaded the bases but the Dokken relieved Lazar and closed the door on the rally by the Falcons.