SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (11-34, 9-22 NSIC), will conclude the regular season with a five-game home stand at the Birdcage. The Cougars will face Minnesota State (34-10, 24-7) on Wednesday, May 1 with an NSIC doubleheader at 1:30/3:30 pm at the Birdcage. Then, the Cougars will host Concordia St. Paul (20-23, 11-19 NSIC)  on Friday May 3 and Saturday, May 4, which will be Senior Day. USF and CSP's NSIC matchups begin on Friday at 1:30/3:30 with a doubleheader. The two teams will play a single game on Saturday when USF honors seven seniors on Senior Day at noon.

As things stand now, USF is 13th in the league at 9-22 and need to finish in the top eight to make the NSIC Postseason Tourney.  Minnesota State is second in the NSIC and has won five straight games. Concordia St. Paul is 11-19 in the league and has lost five straight. The Golden Bears sit 10^th in the NSIC and a game and half ahead of USF.

For updates on USF Baseball stay posted to usfcougars.com or follow USF on twitter at @USF_Athletics. 

Series History vs MSU and Concordia St. Paul
The Cougars trail the all-time series with Minnesota State, 13-0. In the last meeting MSU took a 6-0 and 3-1 win  on April 12, 2018. The highest scoring game was a 23-12 victory by MSU over USF on May 7, 2016.  USF lost to MSU in the NSIC Playoffs, 6-4 at Joe Faver Field in St. Cloud, Minn., on May 13, 2016.

USF and Concordia St. Paul will play for the 25^th time. USF trails in the series, 17-7. In the last meeting on Senior Day at the Birdcage on May 5, 2018, the Cougars fell, 12-2 and 8-7. USF is 4-8 at home against CSP and 3-9 in road games. In the first matchup, CSP took a 5-2 win over April 28, 2013. IN the last 10 matchups, USF has won four of 10 games.USF's last win was a 3-2 win on May 4, 2018 at the Birdcage. In that victory Brandon Roesler scattered seven hits across seven innings. Ryan Meyer and Rob Johnson had RBIs for the Cougars.

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. And, the series with Winona State was moved to work around weather conditions on April 27 with a doubleheader on April 26 and single game on Sunday, April 28.

USF lost series to Winona State, 2-1
Last weekend April 26-28, the Cougars lost a series to Winona State, 2-1. The Cougars won 7-4 as Keenahn Coyle picked up his first win this season. WSU defeated USF 7-6, 6-4, in games the Cougars led. On Cougars lost the series to Upper Iowa, 2-1, on April 19-20 and then fell to South Dakota State, 11-7 on April 23. Against Upper Iowa, USF lost the opener in a pitcher's duel, 1-0. USF's Keenahn Coyle allowed just six hits and one run across 6 1/3 innings but lost a heart-breaker. In the second game of the series, SUF rolled up a 7-1 decision to back the strong pitching of sophomore Matt Graham and Christian Lazar. Lazar earned the victory by throwing 4 1/3 innings of shutout, no-hit relief while recording three strikeouts. USF took a 2-1 lead in the third inning as Rehwaldt and Alex Robinson had RBI singles. Rehwaldt had two more RBI and Grant Lung had a run-scoring single as the Cougars scored five in the sixth inning to earn the 7-1 win. In the final game of the series, UIU took a 10-4 decision. USF led 3-0 before the Peacocks responded with 10 unanswered runs.

Despite two home runs and three hits from Josh Rehwaldt, USF dropped a high-scoring 11-7 decision to Division I South Dakota State  (April 23) in nonconference baseball on Tuesday afternoon at Erv Huether Field in Brookings, S.D. USF played SDSU for a third time (0-3) in the program history and battled the Jackrabbits of the Summit League tough all day. USF scored five runs in the sixth inning to tie the game before SDSU answered with a three-spot in the bottom of the sixth inning and then added a pair in the seventh inning to earn the victory. The Cougars, which wrapped up their nonconference schedule, finished with seven runs on 13 hits but committed six errors while SDSU had nine runs on 13 hits and made one error. Rehwaldt led USF's offense with the two home runs (back-to-back solo shots in sixth and seventh innings), which was the 25^th and 26^th of his career and a single while recording his 17^th steal of the game. Also supplying three hits to USF's attack was freshman outfielder Connor King, who also had an RBI. Sophomore catcher Sam Michels had two hits and an RBI. USF freshman pitcher Jacob Emerson started but did not figure in the decision. Emerson worked three innings and allowed eight hits and five runs while striking out three in throwing 65 pitches. John Berroth took the loss to fall to 1-1. He allowed three runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings while throwing 50 pitches. Spencer Dokken (1 2/3 innings, one hit, two runs, both unearned, two walks, strikeout) and Charles Roskowiak (inning, two strikeouts), who lowered his earned run average to 2.00, finished for USF. The Cougars registered nine strikeouts and walked two hitters as they now have 282 strikeouts against 111 walks this year.

USF falls to Augustana in city rivalry matchup
Despite a pair of solid outings on the mound, USF dropped a pair of NSIC games to No. 20 Augustana on April 16 at the Birdcage. In the first game of a doubleheader, USF lost 2-1 despite solid work on the mound. Sophomore starter Matt Graham, who worked three innings and allowed two runs on three hits in throwing 55 pitches, dropped to 2-3 on the season. Three USF relief pitchers did not allow a run and just one hit over the final four innings. Freshman Sean Nussbaum also had an inning of shutout relief while sophomore Jackson Olson worked two innings of shutout relief and had a strikeout and a walk in throwing 24 pitches to eight batters. Led by Tanner Brown's strong performance on the mound and three hits and three RBI by JT Mix, the Vikings defeated the Cougars, 7-1, in game two of the NSIC doubleheader. Brown allowed three hits and a run with 11 strikeouts in throwing 99 pitches to 23 USF batters. Josh Olson (1 1/3 innings, strikeout), Jed Schmidt (2/3 innings, walk) and Michael Brandt (inning, no hits, strikeout) finished up for the Vikings. USF had a strong performance from sophomore Payton Livingston, who worked six innings with five strikeouts while throwing 88 pitches to 27 batters. He permitted seven hits and three earned runs. Also on the mound for USF was sophomore Keenahn Coyle, who gave up two hits and a run with a strikeout in one inning of work. He also recorded his team leading 10^th pickoff of the season (USF has 13 as a team). Mitchell Lyall gave up a hit and one earned run in 1 1/3 innings in throwing 24 pitches. Olson finished for USF as he worked in his second straight game and recorded a strikeout in retiring both hitters he faced. USF had three hits as Grant Lung and Trey Hubers had singles and junior Ryan Bernardy hit his fifth home run of the season in the seventh inning off Brown.

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 an 11-34 mark and 9-22 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 15^th in the league.  

As a team, USF has 198 runs in 45 games or 4.4 runs per game. As a team, USF has 92 (120 attempts) stolen bases which ranks third in the NSIC. The Cougars have a .320 on-base percentage (tied for 13^th in NSIC) and .326 team slugging mark (12^th in NSIC).

Overall this season, USF has a 6.07 earned run average in 44 league games, which ranks 12^th in the NSIC. They have 301 strikeouts against 127 walks in 347.0 innings. A year ago, USF had 231 strikeouts and 172 walks in 359.2 innings. As a result they have 70 more strikeouts in four fewer innings this year. USF ranks seventh in the NSIC in strikeouts.

Rehwaldt, Lung and Bernardy leading offense
Senior infielder Josh Rehwaldt, who was named to the 2019 NCBWA All-Region Team during the preseason, leads USF with a .333 batting average. He is tied for sixth in the NSIC with eight home runs and 31 RBI with 88 total bases, .553 slugging mark and .430 OBP. Rehwaldt also has a team-high 18 steals, which ranks fourth in the NSIC, in 25 attempts this season.

Rehwaldt has taken over as USF's career RBI leader in the program's DII era with 159. He also is the USF DII-program leader in hits with 261.  He has 13 multi-hit games with 78 in his career. Rehwaldt has 39 multi-RBI games in his career and 18 games with at least three RBIs. Rehwaldt has a career average of .367 which ranks best among USF players in the DII era. He ranks first in doubles with 52, and USF all-time leader in home runs with 26 in USF's DII era. Also in the DII era at USF, Rehwaldt leads with 406 total bases, 14 intentional walks and sacrifice flies with nine while ranking tied for first in steals with 41 (Brent Jarvis, 2015-18). 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.  

Shortstop Grant Lung is hitting .244 with 38 hits in 45 games and a team-high 33RBI. He has nine multi-hit games this season and eight multi-RBI 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. 
 
Junior first baseman Ryan Bernardy, who is hitting .252, has six home runs – 10 in his career - and 22 RBI. Bernardy, who is hitting .429 with a runner on third and less than two outs.  He has 11 steals in 13 attempts.  

Freshman catcher Sam Michels has improved his average to .237 with 22 hits and 13 runs while knocking in eight RBIs. 

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 21 appearances. He is 4-1 with a 2.64 ERA. In 30.2 innings he has 42 strikeouts with just five walks.  

Charles Roskowiak has a 2.00 earned run average in seven appearances. Across seven appearances, he has worked nine innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs with eight strikeouts. Teams are hitting .188 against Roskowiak.

Senior left-handed reliever Mitchell Lyall (2-1) has been dominant out of USF's bullpen. In 14 appearances, Lyall has a team-leading 2.30 earned run average with 13 strikeouts in 14 appearances.  Lyall has two saves and held opponents to a .158 batting average.
 
Sophomore starter Alex Loosbrock is 1-5 with a 5.06 earned run average with seven starts and 12 appearances. He has allowed 46 hits and 27 runs in 48 innings with a team-high 50 strikeouts and 24 walks. Opponents are hitting just .246 against Loosbrock. In three of his last five 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. Against Winona State, he allowed six hits and three runs with six strikeouts but held the Warriors scoreless through first six innings.

Sophomore Matt Graham owns a 2-3 record with a 4.64 earned run average in 11 appearances and six starts.  He has 21 strikeouts, 11 walks and 17 earned runs allowed in 33 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.  

Keenahn Coyle is coming off two straight strong outings and now has a 1-7 record and a 6.39 earned run average. He has made 13 appearances with seven starts. Coyle, who leads the NSIC with 11 pickoffs, has 41 strikeouts against 16 walks in 50.2 innings.