SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (2-11, 0-0 NSIC) will open the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference part of its schedule against the University of Mary (3-8, 0-0) with a three-game set on March 17-18 in Quincy, Ill. USF is also scheduled to face Northern State on March 20 in Sioux Falls, pending weather and field conditions.

The Cougars and Marauders, who met during a recent Florida trip, will play a single game at 6 p.m., on Sunday, March 17. The two NSIC foes will then meet up for a doubleheader at noon on Monday, March 18 at the Quincy University Stadium.

On March 8 in Kissimmee, Fla., USF dropped a 5-4 decision to U-Mary. During the Florida spring break trip, USF had a 2-5 record. The Cougars, which owns a 2-5 record on neutral fields, swept a doubleheader from Notre Dame, 13-0, and 8-5 for its two wins on the trip. Also on the Florida trip, they lost to Grand Valley State, 8-3 and 10-3; fell to Minnesota Duluth, 8-7, and Northwood, 5-3.

The Cougars, directed by third-year head coach Grant Hieb, have opened with a 2-11 mark. The Cougars, which were picked to finish 11^th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, had a 15-21 record in league play a year ago. So far, USF has hit .252 as a team, which is a jump of 24 points in the last seven games. USF, which is 2-3 in games decided by three runs or fewer, has accumulated four home runs and 54 RBI in 13 games. USF has 101 hits, 17 doubles, seven triples and 144 total bases. As a team, USF, which has 21 steals on 32 attempts, has a .359 slugging mark and a .338 OBP.

Over the last seven games, the Cougars have dropped their earned run average to 7.18. In 100.1 innings, USF has allowed 135 hits, 80 earned runs (98 total), while recording 81 strikeouts and issuing 39 bases on balls. Opponents are hitting .318 against USF pitchers, which had 15 wild pitches and 19 hits batsman.

Notes on U-Mary
 
U-Mary (3-8)
U-Mary stands 3-8 on the season but own the nonconference 5-4 win over the Cougars on March 8. Directed by former Augustana associate head coach and pitching coach Mark Moriarty, U-Mary, which stands 3-6 on a neutral field, is led offensively by Darius Barias, who is hitting .324 in 10 games with six RBI and a .343 OBP. Jesus Pavan is hitting .314 with six runs and a .385 OBP while Braeton Wixon has a .286 batting average and .375 OBP.  On the season the Marauders have hit .227 with one home run and 30 RBI. They have been led on the mound by Parker McRae (1-0), who has a 0.00 ERA with two appearances and one start. As a team, the Marauders own a .301 OBP and have a .288 slugging mark.

On the hill, Parker McRae has an 0.66 earned run average with three appearances including two starts. He has a 1-1 record and allowed a .191 batting average. Ian Fisher is 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA with four appearances while Jonathan Draheim has a 2.53 ERA with an 0-1 mark in two starters and 10.2 innings.  As a team they have an 6.29 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 83 innings. In those innings, the Marauders have allowed 116 hits with 90 runs (58 earned) and 60 bases on balls. U-Mary was picked to finished 15^th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
 Rehwaldt, Gulbrandson leading offense
Senior infielder Josh Rehwaldt, who was named to the 2019 NCBWA All-Region Team during the preseason, is hitting .354 with 17 hits, a double, two triples, home run and 11 RBI. He has a .521 slugging mark and .436 OBP with a team-high six steals in eight attempts. Rehwaldt has taken over as USF's career RBI leader in the program's DII era with 139 (Matt Minnick, 134, 2015-18). He also is the USF DII-program leader in hits with 225 (Matthew Minnick, 212, 2015-18).  He has five multi-hit games with hits in 11-of-13 games. Rehwaldt has a career average of .376 (225 hits on 599 at bats), which ranks best among USF players in the DII era. He ranks first in doubles with 49, and second in home runs with 19 in USF's DII era.

Rehwaldt.has 70 career multi-hit games which includes 25 with three hits or better. He has recorded 36 multi-RBI games with 16 of three RBIs or more. He has a season-high of five RBI against Colorado Mines on March 1, 2019 but his career-best is six against Bemidji State on April 2, 2017, which is tied for USF's DII era game high. Twice in his career Rehwaldt has five hits in a game but has a high of three this year against Colorado Mines on March, 1, 2019.

Shortstop Grant Lung is hitting .292 with 14 hits in 13 games and 10 RBI. Eight times he has a hit in a game and four times has multi-hit games with a high of three against Colorado Mines on March 1, 2019. He has a high of three RBI this season against Notre Dame on March 11. Lung owns a .396 slugging mark and .364 OBP.
Freshman centerfielder Connor King is now hitting .268 with 11 hits in 41 at bats. He has a .341 slugging mark and .367 OBP with three steals.

Also for USF, rightfielder Kyle Gulbrandson is the team's top hitter with a .405 average on15 hits in 37 at bats. In 11 starts, he has three doubles, nine RBI, and 18 total bases. In addition, Gulbrandson has a .476 OBP, .486 slugging mark, two steals and four runs scored. Six times he has had multi-hit games this year with a high of three hits against Grand Valley State on March 8.

Junior Ryan Bernardy, who is hitting. 261, has a home run and six RBI. Bernardy, who has played first base most of the season, has a .370 slugging and .346 OBP. 

Loosbrock and Roesler leading USF on the mound
Sophomore Alex Loosbrock has made four appearances and two starts with a 0-3 record and 7.56 earned run average. In 16 2/3 innings he has allowed 20 hits, 14 runs and has 15 strikeouts. 

Brandon Roesler dropped his ERA to 5.14 after working six innings and allowing seven hits and one earned run across two appearances against Grand Valley State and Northwood on USF's spring break trip in Florida. Roesler, who is 0-2, has allowed 12 earned runs in 21 innings with 25 hits while striking out 17.

After missing all of last season, junior Dan Johnson has made two appearances and put together a 3.00 ERA with two hits allowed and one run scored. In three innings, he has a strikeout and a walk.

In four appearances and 4 2/3 innings, senior Christian Lazar has a 1.93 ERA and a 1-0 record. He has allowed six hits and one earned run with nine strikeouts.

Sophomore Matt Graham made his first start of the year against Notre Dame in a 13-0 win. He allowed just two hits in 5 2/3 innings with two strikeouts. On the season, Graham has a 1-0 record with a 4.15 ERA in 8 2/3 innings. He has allowed four runs and six hits while registering three strikeouts.