SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (4-22, 2-11 NSIC) will hit the road for a mid-week doubleheader at Minnesota Crookston (14-8, 7-1 NSIC) at 1/3 pm Wednesday, April 3 in Crookston, Minn. USF will also play Bemidji State on Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7 with the location to be announced later this week due to the heavy moisture from the winter causing field issues in Bemidji, Minn.

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). Then USF hosted SMSU on 28 at Brandon, S.D.

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 split last week 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 ot issuing a walk. Then over the weekend, USF fell to Minot State, 4-0, 14-3 and 6-2.

The Cougars, directed by third-year head coach Grant Hieb, have opened with a 4-22 mark and 2-11 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 .225 as a team, which ranks 14^th in the league.  USF is 2-7 in games decided by three runs or fewer and 0-5 in one-run games. USF stands 2-16 in day games with a 2-6 mark at night and sit 4-13 in neutral site games. When scoring first, USF is 2-5 and 2-6 when scoring in the first inning.

USF's most productive innings have been the first and the fifth inning with 33 total runs. As a team, USF has 101 runs in 26 games or 3.88 per game. When USF has not made an error, they are 3-4 but 1-13 with two errors or more. As a team, USF has a 49 (70 attempts) to 16 advantage in stolen bases over opponents. The Cougars have a .318 on-base percentage and .323 team slugging mark.

In league play, USF is hitting. 194 with a .283 slugging mark and .294 on-base percentage. USF has a 28-to-21 edge in stolen bases.

Senior infielder Josh Rehwaldt junior outfielder/first baseman Ryan Bernardy lead USF in hitting in league games with a .310 batting average. Rehwaldt has two home runs and four RBI and Bernardy three home runs and six RBIs in league play. Rehwaldt owns a .476 mark and .431 OBP with five steals. Bernardy has a .571 slugging mark and .370 OBP with five steals and .483 on-base percentage. USF has registered 53 strikeouts and walked 23. In 64 innings, opponents are hitting .311. Shortstop Grant Lung is hitting .293 with six RBI, .341 slugging mark, .408 OBP and four steals while fielding at .921 with five errors in 13 games.

Overall this season, USF has a 7.74 earned run average in 13 league games. They have 91 strikeouts against 33 walks in 100 innings. The Cougars have given up 136 hits and 86 earned runs.

Notes on Opponents – Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State

UMC, directed by head coach fourth year head coach Steve Gust, has opened the season with a 14-8 record which includes a 7-1 mark in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles, which sit second in the NSIC, will host an NSIC team for the first time this spring. The games with USF is the first of a seven-game home stand. In their most recent series, they split a mid-week doubleheader with Minnesota State. They took a 4-3 decision in game two after falling 8-7 in 12 innings. Prior to that they had won all six of their league games with four by two runs or fewer.

The Golden Eagles are hitting .273 as a team which ranks ninth in the NSIC. UMC has 19 home runs and 103 RBI with 25 steals. They also have 206 strikeouts which rank second to last in the league. On the hill, UMC is 10^th in the NSIC with a 5.91 earned run average. They have allowed 210 hits in 187.1 innings with 123 strikeouts and 94 walks. The offense is led by all-league first baseman Reed Hjelle who is hitting .338 with six home runs and 22 RBI, .676 slugging mark and .510 OBP. Hjelle, who has walked 23 times, has seven steals. Bryce Jorgenson is hitting .299 with nine stolen bases while Landyn Swenson is swinging at a 2.96 clip with 10 RBI. Brock Reller, who has a .281 average, has five home runs and a team-best 25 RBI.  On the mound, Jayden Grover has a 3-2 record with a 3.52 earned run average in six starts. Zach Rustad is 3-3 with a 5.85 ERA and Nate Albrecht has a 2-1 record with four starts and a 5.82 earned run average.

Bemidji State, which is directed by 14^th-year head coach Tim Bellow, has opened with a 2-20 record and a 1-9 record in league play. BSU, which is playing Winona State Wednesday in Winona, MInn., has lost five straight games with a pair of 9-1 setbacks against Minnesota State on March 31. The Beavers have a 6-4 win over Concordia St. Paul on March 27.

The Beavers have a league-low .213 batting average with two home runs and 53 RBI. They have recorded 22 steals and 64 runs.  On the mound, BSU has a 9.92 earned rush average with 93 strikeouts and 68 walks through 22 games. The hitting take is paced by Blake Huntley with a .277 batting average and five RBI. Matt Kummett has a 2.71 average while Wyatt White is batting .267. On the mound, Jesse Palafox is 0-5 with a 5.11 earned run average in five games and seven appearances. Kevin Smith is 0-1 with a 6.64 earned run average in four starts.

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 .333 with 30 hits, two doubles, two triples, three home runs and 15 RBI. He has a .500 slugging mark and .434 OBP with a team-high 11 steals in 16 attempts. Rehwaldt, who a .500 average with runners on third and less than two outs and a .296 mark with runners in scoring position, has taken over as USF's career RBI leader in the program's DII era with 143. He also is the USF DII-program leader in hits with 238.  He has eight multi-hit games with 73 in his career. Rehwaldt has 37 multi-RBI games in his career and 16 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 50, and USF all-time leader in home runs with 21 in USF's DII era. Also in the DII era at USF, Rehwaldt leads with 366 total bases, 13 intentional walks and sacrifice flies with nine while ranking fifth in steals with 35. 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 26 hits in 26 games and a team-high 16 RBI. 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 .371 slugging mark and .385 OBP.
 
Junior first baseman Ryan Bernardy, who is hitting .284, has four home runs – eight in his career - and 12 RBI. Bernardy, who is hitting .280 with runners in scoring position (7-of-25) and .400 with runners on third and less than two out, owns a .466 slugging mark and .357 OBP. 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 12 appearances. He is 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA. In 11 2/3 innings he has 20 strikeouts with just three walks.

Senior left-handed reliever Mitchell Lyall has a 0.00 earned run average across eight appearances. He has thrown 8.1 innings with eight strikeouts and just one walk. Also with a 0.00 earned run average, Charles Roskowiak with four appearances and 5 1/3 innings.  

Sophomore starter Alex Loosbrock is 1-4 with a 5.46 earned run average with four starts and nine appearances. He has allowed 28 hits and 19 runs in 31 1/3 innings with a team-high 32 strikeouts and 13 walks. Right-hander Brandon Roesler is 0-4 with a 7.02 ERA but has 27 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings with just six walks in eight appearances and five 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 owns a 1-1 record with a 4.30 earned run average in seven appearances and two starts.  In the past 4 2/3 innings of 14 2/3 thrown this season, Graham has allowed just one hit and one run with five strikeouts and no walks.