SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – While wet conditions are improving, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team will play away from its home at the Birdcage and host Southwest Minnesota State (2-11, 1-7 NSIC) at the First National Bank Field in Brandon, S.D., on Wednesday (March 27) with a doubleheader starting at 7 pm. USF will then leave for a three-game series with Minot State in Minot, N.D. USF-MiSU will play a doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m., on Saturday, March 30 and a nine-inning game  at noon on Sunday, March 31.

Due to the heavy snow and cold weather in February and early March, USF has had to move home games to Quincy, Ill., (three-game set with U-Mary, March 17-18) and to the all-weather Ronken Field – Karras Park (doubleheader with Northern State, March 21; and three-game series with St. Cloud State, March 23-24). For updates on USF Baseball stay posted to usfcougars.com or follow USF on twitter at @USF_Athletics.

USF opened the NSIC season with three straight losses to U-Mary in Quincy, Ill. The Cougars lost 4-1, 5-2, and 4-3 as they put together a series of strong pitching performances but struggled at the plate.  USF had a 4.32 earned run average and recorded 23 strikeouts with just nine walks. Against NSU, USF was 1-1 as they lost a heart-breaker, 7-6, in 11 innings before recording the first NSIC win of the season with a 7-3 decision in game two of a mid-week doubleheader on March 21. Against the No. 4 St. Cloud State Huskies, USF dropped three games – 12-7, 15-0, and 12-1. In the first game USF had home runs from Ryan Bernardy and Josh Rehwaldt off All-American pitcher Dominic Austing of SCSU.

The Cougars, directed by third-year head coach Grant Hieb, have opened with a 3-18 mark and 1-7 in league play. 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 .229 as a team, which ranks 13^th in the league.  USF, which is 2-7 in games decided by three runs or fewer and 0-5 in one-run games. USF stands 2-13 in day games with a 1-5 mark at night and sit 3-12 in neutral site games. When scoring first, USF is 2-4 and 2-5 when scoring the first inning.

USF's most productive innings have been the first and the fifth inning with 14 total runs. As a team, USF has 87 runs. When USF has not made an error, they are 2-3 but 1-12 with two errors or more. As a team, USF has a 43 (62 attempts) to 22 advantage in stolen bases over opponents. The Cougars have a .326 on-base percentage and .318 team slugging mark.

In league play, USF is hitting. 188 with a .243 slugging mark and .303 on-base percentage. USF has a 22-to-10 edge in stolen bases.

Sophomore shortstop Grant Lung leads USF in league games with a .348 batting average and .483 on-base percentage. Junior first baseman Ryan Bernardy is hitting .320 in eight league games and has a home run with a team-best 11 total bases. He has a .393 on-base percentage.
Senior third-baseman Josh Rehwaldt has a .280 batting average with a .400 slugging mark and .419 OBP. On the mound, USF has a 6.75 earned run average but has a standout strikeout-to-walk rate. USF has registered 53 strikeouts and walked 23. In 64 innings, opponents are hitting .311.

Overall this season, USF has a 7.11 earned run average in 21 games. They have 134 strikeouts against 62 walks in 164.1 innings. The Cougars have given up 220 hits and 128 earned runs.

Notes on Opponents – Southwest Minnesota State and Minot State

SMSU, which has lost 7-of-8 games, stand 2-11 overall on the season and 1-7 in league play. On March 22-23, the Mustangs lost three straight to Winona State by scores of 6-2, 3-2 and 6-5. SMSU is hitting .245 as a team with four home runs and 35 RBI. They have a .331 slugging mark and a .319 OBP. SMSU is led by Nathan Kuhn who is hitting .327 with five RBI and a .411 OBP. Also over .300 is Tanner Strommen with a .326 mark and .396 OBP. Connor Johnson is hitting .278 with a .422 OBP while Jayden Fleck is hitting .283.  On the mound, the Mustangs rank sixth with a 5.08 ERA and have 85 strikeouts against 40 walks in 102 2/3 innings. The Mustangs allow a .300 batting average and ranks seventh in field with a .964 percentage.   

Minot State, which has opened 2-3 in league play (ninth place) and 8-9 overall, ranks sixth in the league with a .294 batting average and own a .414 slugging with a .388 OBP.  The Beavers, which lost 2-of-3 at Minnesota State on March 22-23 (5-4, 7-0 losses and 10-7 win in 14 innings) but have won 7-of-9 games, have nine home runs and 106 RBI with 46 steals in 54 attempts. Leading the way is Michael Borst with a .429 batting average, .619 slugging mark and .513 OBP. Borst is 12-of-12 in steals and has hit two home runs with a team-high 25 RBI. Mason Gifford is hitting .366 with a .491 OBP while Ryley Humrighouse is hitting .404 with a .469 OBP. On the mound, the Beavers rank fourth with a 5.59 earned run average with 136 strikeouts against 60 walks across 134 innings. Jayon Cervanes is 3-0 with a 3.93 ERA in three starts. Both Jack Gamba (1-2, 1.80 ERA) and Aaron Bernal (0-1, 6.75 ERA) have made a team-high six appearances. In away games, MiSU is 2-7 but 6-2 on neutral fields.
  
Rehwaldt, Lung and Bernardy leading offense
Senior infielder Josh Rehwaldt, who was named to the 2019 NCBWA All-Region Team during the preseason, is hitting a team-high .329 with 24 hits, a double, two triples, two home runs and 12 RBI. He has a .479 slugging mark and .430 OBP with a team-high eight steals in 11 attempts. Rehwaldt, who a .571 average with runners on third and less than two outs and a .273 mark with runners in scoring position, has taken over as USF's career RBI leader in the program's DII era with 140. He also is the USF DII-program leader in hits with 232.  He has seven multi-hit games with 72 in his career. Rehwaldt has 36 multi-RBI games in his career and 16 games with at least three RBIs. Rehwaldt has a career average of .372 which ranks best among USF players in the DII era. He ranks first in doubles with 49, and USF all-time leader in home runs with 20 in USF's DII era. Also in the DII era at USF, Rehwaldt leads with 356 total bases, 13 intentional walks and sacrifice flies with nine while ranking fifth in steals with 32.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 .310 with 22 hits in 21 games and a team-high 15 RBI. In the past five games, he has seven hits in 14 at bats to lift his average 47 points. He has six multi-hit games this season and five multi-RBI games. He had a high of four hits against NSU when he tied is high of RBIs with three. He also had three RBI this season against Notre Dame on March 11. Lung owns a .394 slugging mark and .405 OBP.

Junior first baseman Ryan Bernardy, who is hitting. 282, has two home runs – six in his career - and 10 RBI. Bernardy, who is hitting .333 with runners in scoring position (7-of-21) and .400 with runners on third and less than two out, owns a .394 slugging mark and .363 OBP. He has eight steals in nine attempts.   

Freshman outfield Connor King, who has a .370 OBP, is hitting .242 in 21 games with 16 hits. He hit his first home run of his career against Northern State (7-6 loss in 11 innings) on March 21, and has 22 total bases. He has seven steals in 11 attempts and made 56 putouts in center field.

Lazar, Loosbrock and Roesler leading USF on the mound
Senior left hander Christian Lazar has been the workhorse out of the bullpen for USF with nine appearances. He is 1-0 with a 2.61 ERA. In 10 1/3 innings he has 16 strikeouts with just three walks.

In six appearances senior left-hander Mitchell Lyall has a 0.00 ERA with no earned runs in four innings and five strikeouts without a walk.

Junior right-hander Charles Roskowiak also has a 0.00 ERA in three appearances. He has a strikeout and three hits allowed in 3 1/3 innings.

Sophomore right-hander Brandon Roesler is 0-3 with a 4.97 ERA but has 21 strikeouts in 29 innings with just five walks in six appearances and four starts. Three times this season, Roesler has gone at least seven innings. In his most recent outing on March 21, he was not involved in the decision of a 7-6 loss in 11 innings after allowing seven hits, four earned runs and striking out a hitter.

Sophomore Matt Graham is at 4.97 with a 1-1 record with five appearances and two starts.

Sophomore Alex Loosbrock is 1-3 with a 5.26 ERA. Loosbrock, who picked up his first win of the season in a win over Northern State (six innings, three hits, run and eight strikeouts), has a 5.26 ERA with seven appearances, three starts and a complete game. He has 28 strikeouts and 10 walks in 25 2/3 innings. Loosbrock has held opponents to a .235 batting average.