WINTER HAVEN, FLA. – With a season-best two-game run on offense plus quality pitching outings, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (3-5) swept West Virginia Wesleyan (1-14) on Friday morning in nonconference baseball as part of the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational.

The Cougars rolled to a 10-0 win in game one as redshirt freshman Jack Blogg recorded his first career win on the mound and the Cougars took advantage of walks with timely hits to end a two-game losing streak. In the second game, USF tied a season-high with 17 hits while registering a season-best in runs scored in a 17-2 win.

On the day, USF hit .373 as a team, led by sophomore outfielder Connor King, who had five hits in seven at bats for a .714 mark. He had a 1.143 slugging mark and .800 OBP. King finished with a single, triple, four RBI, and a stolen base. Senior Alex Robinson hit .600 with three hits in five at bars and had four RBI. Zane Butts hit .500 with three hits in six at bats with four runs and a .667 slugging plus .625 OBP. Also for USF junior Grant Lung was 3-of-8 for a .375 mark and slugged .625. Also Ryan Bernardy and Jacob Binsfield both hit .333 for the day. Bernardy had two hits and three runs with an RBI and his first home run of the season. He had a .833 slugging percentage on the day. Binsfield had two hits, two doubles and an RBI as he slugged. 667.  With their hitting today, USF jumped their average from .253 to .281.

The USF pitching staff also had a big day as they allowed just six hits and two runs in 14 innings. Starters allowed just three total hits in 11 innings. As a result, USF had a 1.29 earned run average with 12 strikeouts against one walk. And, the performance on the mound, which included holding WVW to a .125 average, lowered the team's earned run average to 7.05 on the season. Also USF now has 47 strikeouts to 20 walks through eight games.

Game 1 – Sioux Falls 10 West Virginia Wesleyan 0
In the opener, USF registered its first shutout of the season as redshirt freshman Jack Blogg was dominating on the mound and the Cougars took advantage of 18 walks with five timely hits to win in a rule-run shortened game, 10-0.

In his first career win, Blogg (1-0) of Sioux Falls, S.D., allowed just two hits and walked just one hitter with a career-high eight strikeouts to move to 1-0 on the season. In facing 21 batters, he allowed just three runners to reach base. Charles Roskowiak finished up for USF with one-inning on one-hit relief pitching.

The offense was led by King, who reached base five times with two hits, including a triple, and three walks. He had two RBI and a run scored. Lung, who had two walks and a single, scored three times. Robinson was 1-of-2 with a run scored and three RBI. USF had stolen bases from King, Tyler Blackburn, who also singled, and Ryan Meyer, who walked three times in five at bats.

USF opened the scoring with two runs in the first inning and added three in the fifth frame and five more in the sixth inning in earning the victory.

Game 2 – Sioux Falls 17 West Virginia Wesleyan 2
With Connor King and Zane Butts leading the offensive attack and junior right-handed pitcher Payton Livingston picked up his first career win as the Cougars took a 17-2 run-rule shortened seven-inning decision over West Virginia Wesleyan.

Livingston (1-0), a junior from Brandon, S.D., allowed just one hit across five innings and registered a strikeout among the 17 batters he faced. USF also had one inning on the mound from senior Jackson Olson, who allowed a hit with two strikeouts and sophomore Jacob Emerson, who allowed a hit and two runs with a strikeout in pitching the seventh inning.

In game two, the Cougars opened the scoring with a run in the first and added five more in the second frame with one in the third for a 7-0 lead. In the fourth inning the Cougars had three runs and put the game away with a seven-run fifth inning. WVW scored two runs in the seventh inning to account for their scoring.

King of Rapid City, had three hits, two runs and two RBI in game two. King, who is hitting .360 on the season, had a double among his three hits. Six players had two or more hits, which included three hits in four at bats with two runs and two RBI by Butts, a junior from Glendale, Ariz. 

Senior Ryan Bernardy of Minneapolis, Minn., added two hits with three runs and three RBI. Bernardy, who is leading the team with a .375 average, hammered his first home run of the season and the fifth of his career. Lung added two hits and two RBI and is now hitting .367 on the year. Also with two hits was Robinson, who added his fourth RBI of the day; and right-fielder Jacob Binsfield, who had two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. A junior from Saskatoon, Canada, Binsfield is hitting .310 on the season.

Next for USF will face Grand Valley State in a doubleheader at 1:45/3:45 pm on Saturday (March 7) in Auburndale, Fla.