KIRKSVILLE, MO. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (4-0) swept a second straight doubleheader against Truman State (0-8) as the Cougars opened the season 4-0 on the road.
USF is 4-0 for the first time since 2010 when the Cougars had an 8-0 start while a member of the NAIA. This is the first time in the NCAA DII era that USF is off to such a strong start.

On Saturday, the Cougars won the opener, 2-1, on a dominant pitching performance from junior Cole Schumacher, who threw a three-hitter in his first start at USF.  Then, the Cougars exploded offensively for a 16-4 win in game two with 11 hits, including seven extra base knocks. Andrew Maslowski had a strong start and earned his first win of the season.
USF Head Coach Grant Hieb was pleased with his team's start and effort during the opening four-games.

"It was another great day for our pitching staff as both Cole (Schumacher) and Andrew (Maslowski) did a good job of limiting free passes," said Hieb. "Obviously having all your starting pitchers in a weekend throwing quality starts is a great recipe for our ball club to have success. It was good to see the hitters put up some runs in the second game today after having to scratch out a win in the opener," he said.

"Overall, I was happy with the way we played this weekend, considering it has awhile since we played an actual game," said Hieb, whose team will host Minot State on March 20-21 at Sioux Falls Stadium. "We are glad we earned those wins and hope that we can carry this momentum into the start of NSIC play this weekend," he said.
 
BREAKING DOWN 4-GAME SWEEP: During the four-game sweep, USF had four straight solid starts as Maslowski, Schumacher, Matt Graham and Alex Krout all earned wins. Those four combined for a 2.33 earned run average with 18 strikeouts against five walks in 27 innings. They allowed just seven earned runs and 21 hits. Offensively, USF hit .304 as a team with 38 hits in 125 at bats with 14 extra base hits (10 doubles), 25 RBI, 58 total bases, .412 OBP and .464 slugging mark. Leading the way is sophomore outfielder Trey Hubers, who is hitting .545 with six hits in 11 at bats and a .615 OBP. Junior shortstop Grant Lung is hitting .400 with two home runs and a team-high seven RBI and 14 total bases along with a .933 slugging mark and .471 OBP. Redshirt freshman Tyler Cate is hitting 400 with a .571 OBP and three stolen bases. Senior Ryan Bernardy is among the eight USF hitters hitting over .300 with his .385 average and a .529 OBP.

G1 -- Sioux Falls 2 Truman State 1 (7 innings)
In the opener of a doubleheader Saturday, junior Cole Schumacher threw a complete game three-hitter to lead USF to its third straight win.

Schumacher was back up by RBIs from Tyler Blackburn and Jared Binfield, who had one of USF's six hits. The Cougars also had hits from Noah Buss, Bernardy, Lung, Hubers and Cate.
But the story of the game was Schumacher, who allowed just three hits across seven innings. He recorded five strikeouts and walked three in throwing 94 pitches. His only blemish was a home run allowed to Luke Turner in the bottom of the third inning. He retired 11 of the last 15 batters and only one hit among those who reached.

USF opened the scoring in the third inning as Ryan Meyer scored on a run scored single by Binsfield. After TSU tied the game at 1-1, the Cougars retook the lead at 2-1. Blackburn had an RBI ground out to score Bernardy, who opened the inning with a double.  

G2 -- USF 16 Truman State 4 (7 innings, run rule)
With a 16-run explosion, fueled by three hits and two RBI from Connor King and three RBI from Lung and Butts, the Cougars rolled past Truman State, 16-4, in game two.

USF, which scored its most runs since a 17-2 win over West Virginia Wesleyan on March 6, 2020, had 11 hits by eight different players. But King, who ended an 0-12 slide to open the season, was a key factor with three hits and two RBI. It is the third time in his career, he has had three hits. Butts also broke out of a slow start with two hits and tied a career-high (Grand Valley State, March 7, 2020) with his three RBI. Lung also came up big with three RBI, two runs scored and his second home run of the season. USF also had hits from Alex Bertram, who had two RBI, Kyle Gulbrandson, who also had an RBI, and Noah Buss, who also scored a run.

In his first start of the season, Maslowski (1-0) was solid by allowing just two earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts across six innings. Charles Roskowiak worked the other inning and threw shutout relief in his first appearance of the season.

The Cougars opened the game fast with six runs in the first inning. It was the most runs in an inning for USF since a 20-2 win over Bemidji State in April 2019 at Sioux Falls Stadium. USF added a run in the fourth inning, four in the fifth frame, two in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh inning. When Truman State couldn't answer in the bottom half, USF won in a run-rule shortened game.

Butts started things for the Cougars with a two-run single in the first inning which plated Binsfield and Lung for a 2-0 lead. Then, after Tyler Blackburn was hit by a pitch, Hubers drew a walk to force in Bernardy and Hubers's RBI gave USF a 3-0 lead. USF extended the lead to 4-0 when a wild pitch plated Butts.

In his first at bat of the year, Zach Andreasen hit a two-run double to score Hubers and Blackburn for a 6-0 lead which forced a pitching change by TSU. In the fourth inning, USF added a run without a hit as Cate, who walked, stole second and third and later scored when Binsfield was hit by a pitch.

In the fifth inning, USF scored four times on two hits. Cate scored on an RBI single by King. Then, Lung slammed his second home run of the season which scored Binsfield (hit by pitch) and King. USF added two more runs on two hits in the sixth inning. Noah Buss, who doubled to right center, later scored on a passed ball. Andreasen, who reached on an error, scored on Kyle Gulbrandson's double. USF scored its final three runs in the seventh inning as Bertram had a two-run double and King had a run-scoring double for USF's final runs.