SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (9-24, 7-13 NSIC), which has won five of seven games, will play two of the top teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) in the next several days. USF will play a three-game league series at Wayne State (24-9, 15-5 NSIC) on April 13-14 in Wayne, Neb. USF and WSC will play a doubleheader at 12/2 pm on Saturday, April 13 with a nine-inning single game at 12 pm on Sunday, April 14. The Cougars will also host the league leader and city rival Augustana at 4/6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 at the Birdcage.

For updates on USF Baseball stay posted to usfcougars.com or follow USF on twitter at @USF_Athletics. All five games will be available on live stats and video. The Wayne State games can be followed at the following links -- live stats and video. The USF-Augustana game at the Birdcage will be available at the following links -- live stats and live video.

Weather impacting spring sports
Weather has certainly impacted the baseball teams in the NSIC, including USF, which has moved around to play home games and serve as a site reversal. In their first league home series, USF hosted U-Mary in Quincy, Ill., some 501 miles from Sioux Falls on March 17-18. USF has also played five league home games vs Northern State and St. Cloud State from March 21-24 at Ronken Field on the Augustana campus. On March 27, USF hosted travel partner SMSU at First National Bank Field in Brandon, S.D. Then this past week USF served as host as a result of site reversals with Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth at the Birdcage from April 7-9.

USF beats Northern State, 7-3, for first NSIC win
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 at Ronken Field, 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 against Northern State on March 21. Against No. 4 St. Cloud State Huskies at Ronken Field, 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 split with SMSU, losing 13-4 before recording a 5-3 win as seven pitchers combined to set a school record with 15 combined strikeouts and did not issue a walk. USF fell at Minot State, 4-0, 14-3 and 6-2 on March 30-31.

Cougars sweep Minnesota-Crookston on the road
USF rebounded from that three-game sweep by sweeping Minnesota Crookston on the road by 10-1 and 3-2 scores on April 3. Against UMC, USF pitchers had a 1.12 earned run average as they allowed just eight hits and two earned runs. The Cougars had a strong strikeout to walk rate as they had 19 strikeouts to just four walks. USF's bullpen allowed just one hit and had eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. In the first game, Matt Graham (2-2) picked up the win with his best performance at USF (six innings, five hits, five strikeouts, one run) and in game two Payton Livingston allowed just two hits and one earned run with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Then, the bullpen took over and shut the door on UMC.

On offense, USF hit .254 as a team with 17 hits and 13 runs in 67 at bats. Sam Michels had a career-best three hits and three RBI in game one and Alex Robinson hit .571 with four hits in seven at bats while scoring two runs with an RBI. Ryan Bernardy had three hits in seven at bats with three RBI. He had a pair of doubles. Josh Rehwaldt had three hits, including his third triple of the season, and an RBI. The Cougars also stole eight bases in nine attempts and had just three errors.

USF scores season high 20 runs in 20-2 win and also win 6-5 over BSU
USF won its series with Bemidji State by winning 20-2 and 6-5 after falling 5-4 in the opener. Led by the offensive exploits of Josh Rehwaldt and Alex Robinson, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team scored a season-high 20 runs in a game two victory to earn a split against BSU at the Birdcage. After BSU rallied to win game one 5-4 with a walk off home run from Wyatt White, the Cougars rebounded with their highest season output with a 20-2 win in game two as Rehwaldt had four hits, including two long home runs, and five RBI, while Alex Robinson had three hits for the third straight game.  In the game two victory, USF had six runs in the second inning and a season-best 10 runs in the fourth inning to win the run-rule shortened game. USF had 20 runs in a game for the first time since a 21-13 decision over Wayne State on April 29, 2018 in Wayne, Neb. USF, which recorded a season-best 16 hits, scored 20 runs at the Birdcage for the first time since a 20-2 win over Upper Iowa on April 23, 2017.  In that game two years ago, USF also had 10 runs in an inning (first inning). On the day, Robinson had six hits in nine at bats with six RBI and a run scored. Rehwaldt had four hits in eight at bats with five RBI. He had five RBI in a game for the second time this year and recorded four hits in a game for the first time. With two home runs in game two, Rehwaldt had his first multi-home run game of the season.

Lung hits two, three home runs to lead USF to split of DH with UMD
USF and Minnesota Duluth split a doubleheader as the Bulldogs won 12-3 before Grant Lung's two three-run home runs propelled USF to a 7-4 game two win on April 9 at the Birdcage. After falling 12-3 in the opener, Lung stepped up. He hit a pair of three-run homer runs and stole two bases. For the first time at USF, he had two home runs in a game and set his career-best with six RBIs in the game two victory. As a team, USF hit .270 in the doubleheader with 17 hits in 63 at bats. Connor King also had three hits and two runs scored while Brennan Gabriel, Ryan Bernardy and Josh Rehwaldt also collected a pair of hits for USF which slugged .413 as a team.

In the game two decision, the Cougars had solid pitching from starter Payton Livingston and relievers Christian Lazar, Brandon Roesler and Mitchell Lyall to pick up their seventh league win of the season in a 7-4 decision. Livingston had his second straight strong start for USF by going 4 1/3 innings and allowing six hits and two runs as he threw 71 pitches. With the bases loaded in the fifth inning, Christian Lazar worked out of a jam to retire two straight hitters without allowing a run. Lazar (3-1), earned his third win of the season by throwing 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He gave up just three hits and recorded six strikeouts of the 11 batters he faced and with just 38 pitches. Lazar, who lowered his season earned run average to 3.12, now has 29 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings with just four walks. Brandon Roesler worked one inning of scoreless relief as he threw just 12 pitches and retired three of the four batters he faced. In the ninth inning, USF turned the game over to Mitchell Lyall, who faced six batters and allowed two unearned runs as a result of three USF errors. Lyall, who allowed just one hit to UMD, maintained his perfect 0.00 earned run average in his 11^th appearance this year.

Breaking it down – USF by the numbers
The Cougars, directed by third-year head coach Grant Hieb, have opened with a 9-24 mark and 7-13 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 .235 as a team, which ranks 14^th in the league.  

As a team, USF has 154 runs in 33 games or 4.6 runs per game. As a team, USF has 72 (99 attempts) stolen bases which ranks second in the NSIC. The Cougars have a .330 on-base percentage (tied for 13^th in NSIC) and .347 team slugging mark (12^th in NSIC).

Overall this season, USF has a 6.48 earned run average in 33 league games, which ranks 12^th in the NSIC. They have 230 strikeouts against 92 walks in 254.0 innings or 2.45 ratio. USF ranks seventh in the NSIC in strikeouts.

Notes on Opponents – Wayne State and Augustana

In the next week, USF will face two of the league's top teams. USF begins first with a three-game set at Wayne State on April 13-14 and then league leader Augustana on April 16 at the Birdcage. Against WSC, USF trails the all-time series in NSIC games, 14-6 but won the last matchup, 21-13, on April 29, 2018 as Josh Rehwaldt had three hits and four RBI. He doubled and tripled among his three hits against WSC. USF broke a five-game losing streak to the Wildcats in that offensive explosive in Wayne, Neb. In the first game of that doubleheader, WSC to a 14-10 decision.

WSC, directed by fifth-year head coach Alex Koch, sits tied for second in the NSIC with a 15-5 league mark and stand 24-9 overall.  The Wildcats, which has won 8-of-10, is coming off a split of a mid-week doubleheader with Minot State on April 10 in Minot. WSC lost game one, 63, in 10 innings and won game two by a 1-0 count. At home, WSC has a 7-3 mark. The Wildcats rank third in the NSIC in pitching with a 3.82 earned rush averaged and have 251 strikeouts and limited opponents to a .231 batting average. At the plate, the Wildcats sit fourth in hitting at .293 with a league-high 32 home runs and 194 RBI while owning a .473 slugging mark and .375 OBP. WSC's offense is led by Sam Kohnle who is hitting 382 with 17 RBI, and a .459 OBP.  Alex Logelin is also hitting the ball well for the Wildcats at .352 on the season and has four home runs, 22 RBI and .432 OBP. On the mound, WSC is led by Ryan Obrecht with a 5-0 record in eight games with a 1.47 earned run average. Hunter Wienhoff is 6-1 with a 1.8 earned rush average in seven starts. Wienhoff has 44 strikeouts and Obrecht has 31 strikeouts and just eight walks.

Augustana, led by head coach Tim Huber, leads the NSIC with a 16-3 record and stand 23-10 overall. The Vikings won the last encounter, 5-2, on April 25, 2018 at the Birdcage. In the first game, USF defeated the No. 1 Vikings, 4-2, as Dylan Gavin earned the win and Jackson Olson a save. Josh Rehwaldt had two hits for USF, which defeated their rivals for the fourth time in five games. Overall as NSIC foes, the Vikings own an 8-7 series lead..
 
In road games, AU is 5-4. Recently, the Vikings split a doubleheader with Minnesota Crookston with a 2-1 loss in eight innings and a 3-0 win in games played April 10. They also recently split a doubleheader at Minot State as they won 7-1, 15-5 before falling 11-8 and 5-7. However over the last 10 games they are 7-3. The Vikings are tied with St. Cloud State for first in hitting with a .328 batting average. They have 18 home runs and a 221 RBI with a .367 slugging mark and .419 OBP, which is tied for first in the league. In pitching, the Vikings rank fourth in the NSIC with a 3.94 earned run average. In 269.1 innings, they have 265 strikeouts and 140 walks. Jordan Barth leads the Vikings offense with a .439 batting average, which is second in the league. He has six home runs and 31 RBI with a .729 slugging and .492 OBP. Riley Johnson of AU is sixth in hitting at .415 with 31 RBI, 11 stolen bases and .481 OBP. JT Mix is hitting .360 and Ryan Nickel, .359 as the Vikings have four hitters with a .359 or better average. AU's pitching is led by Max Steffens at 3-0 in eight starts with a 1.61 earned run average and 36 strikeouts. Also for the Vikings, Tanner Brown is 3-0 with a 2.70 earned run average and 40 strikeouts.

Rehwaldt, Lung and Bernardy leading offense
Senior infielder Josh Rehwaldt, who was named to the 2019 NCBWA All-Region Team during the preseason, ranks 24^th in the NSIC with a .342 batting average. He is tied for fifth in the NSIC with six home runs and 22 RBI with 67 total bases, .573 slugging mark (13^th in NSIC) and .446 OBP (18^th in NSIC). Rehwaldt also has a team-high 14 steals, which ranks fourth in the NSIC, in 19 attempts this season.

Rehwaldt has taken over as USF's career RBI leader in the program's DII era with 150. He also is the USF DII-program leader in hits with 248.  He has 11 multi-hit games with 76 in his career. Rehwaldt has 38 multi-RBI games in his career and 18 games with at least three RBIs. Rehwaldt has a career average of .371 which ranks best among USF players in the DII era. He ranks first in doubles with 69, and USF all-time leader in home runs with 24 in USF's DII era. Also in the DII era at USF, Rehwaldt leads with 388 total bases, 13 intentional walks and sacrifice flies with nine while ranking fifth in steals with 38. He has a season-high of five RBI against Colorado Mines on March 1, 2019 and against Bemidji State on April 7 when he had a two-home run game. 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 four this year against Bemidji State on April 7. Over the past 10 games, Rehwaldt is hitting .378 with 14 hits in 37 at bats with three home runs and eight RBIs. Rehwaldt is hitting .371 vs lefthanders and .329 against right handed pitcher is hitting .351 with runners on and .290 with runners in scoring position while owning a .411 success mark in advancing runners.

Shortstop Grant Lung is hitting .283 with 32 hits in 33 games and a team-high 27 RBI. He has six multi-hit games this season and eight multi-RBI games. Lung is on a power run with three home runs and 11 RBI over his last four games. Lung did not have a career home run until going yard against Bemidji State on April 7 in a 20-2 win. Then he had a career first with two home runs and career-best six RBIs as USF defeated UMD, 7-4, on April 9. He has 20 runs scored, eight steals in 12 attempts, .425 slugging mark and 397 OBP. He had a high of four hits against NSU. This season, he is hitting .375 (15-of-40) with runners in scoring position.
 
Junior first baseman Ryan Bernardy, who is hitting .265, has four home runs – eight in his career - and 15 RBI. Bernardy, who has a .404 percentage of advancing runners (23-of-57), is hitting .429 with a runner on third and less than two outs.  He has eight steals in nine attempts.  

Lazar, Lyall and Roskowiak proving effective out of bullpen
Senior left hander Christian Lazar has been the workhorse out of the bullpen for USF with 15 appearances. He is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA. In 17 1/3 innings he has 29 strikeouts with just four walks. In his most recent outing against UMD, he allowed three hits and no runs over 2 2/3 innings while registering six strikeouts which is his career best total in a single outing. He has no allowed runs and just five hits with nine strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in three appearances against Minnesota Crookston, Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth from April 3-7.

Senior left-handed reliever Mitchell Lyall has been dominant out of USF's bullpen. In 11 appearances, Lyall has a 0.00 earned run average with 12 strikeouts in 12 appearances. He also allowed seven hits and thrown 53 strikes in 73 pitches thrown. He has a 2-0 record and also owns a save.
 
Sophomore starter Alex Loosbrock is 1-4 with a 4.82 earned run average with five starts and 10 appearances. He has allowed 34 hits and 20 runs in 37 1/3 innings with a team-high 41 strikeouts and 17 walks. Opponents are hitting just .238 against Loosbrock. In two of his last three starts the sophomore has been dominant. Against Northern State on March 21, he picked up a win as he allowed just three hits and a run with eight strikeouts in six innings in throwing 104 pitches. Then against Bemidji State on April 7, he was not involved in the decision after giving up six hits and a run with a career-high nine strikeouts across six innings. In that game, he also had a career-high with 113 pitches.

Right-hander Brandon Roesler is 0-4 with a 6.27 ERA but has 30 strikeouts in 37 1/3 innings with just seven walks in 10 appearances and six starts. Three times this season, Roesler has gone at least seven innings. In two relief appearances from April 7-9, he allowed just one hit in four innings with three strikeouts. Of 42 pitches, he threw 32 strikes.

Sophomore Matt Graham owns a 2-2 record with a 4.37 earned run average in nine appearances and four starts.  He has 17 strikeouts, five walks and 11 earned runs allowed in 22 2/3 innings. He has had two standout starts. In a 13-0 win over Notre Dame College, he worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed just two hits with two strikeouts. He also threw six innings in a 10-1 win over Minnesota Crookston when he allowed five hits and one run with a career-high five strikeouts.