BRANDON, S.D. – It was certainly a bounce back type of game for the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (6-6, 2-6 NSIC), which utilized strong starting pitching complimented by power on offense, to sweep a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference doubleheader against Bemidji State (2-11, 1-7 NSIC), 4-0, 9-3, on Sunday at First National Bank Field. USF is scheduled to play Minnesota Duluth on Wednesday, March 31 at 1:30/3:30 pm at Sioux Falls Stadium.

USF had a sterling starting debut from junior Caleb Ditmarson to win the opener as Sam Michels hit a home run to provide all the offense needed. In game two, Alex Krout and Payton Livingston combined for a win as Ryan Bernardy's three-run home run was a key hit.

With the victories, the Cougars moved back to .500 overall at 6-6 and won its first pair of NSIC games this season. USF also ended a six-game slide.

After the game, USF Head Baseball Coach Grant Hieb was pleased with his team's performance after a trying day on a windy, cold and wet Saturday ended in an 18-11 setback.

"It was great to see our guys bounce back today after a tough loss yesterday," said Hieb. "Caleb (Ditmarson) going the distance was huge for our pitching staff after using a lot of guys yesterday. Then Alex (Krout) and Payton (Livingston) backed it up in game two with another great effort. I have preaching to my guys all year that we need pitching and defense every inning. Hitting will come and go but we have to pitch and play defense all the time. I thought our hitters were better today as they did a good job of moving guys around and sticking with their approaches. I was glad to see us respond in game two after they tied. Overall it was great to see us play consistency ball for two straight games. We have some tough games ahead of this week with Minnesota Duluth and U-Mary so I hope we can build on today's games and continue to compete like we did today," he said.

On the day, USF's hitters batted .321 with two home runs, 13 RBI and 18 hits while slugging at .554 with a .381 OBP. And, USF had four steals and committed just two errors. On the mound, USF had a 1.69 earned run average with seven hits allowed in 16 innings while recording 12 strikeouts. After walking 16 batters Saturday, USF had a combined six bases on balls in two games today.

Game 1 – Sioux Falls 4 Bemidji State 0 (7 innings)
In his first career start, Caleb Ditmarson handcuffed the BSU hitters by allowing just three hits across seven innings as he had his first career shutout and complete game. He recorded seven strikeouts with just two walks in throwing 82 pitches to 24 batters.

Offensively, Trey Hubers, Zane Butts and Sam Michels provided the offense. Hubers had three hits and two runs scored while Michels hit his second career home run. Butts added a two-run single.
In the second inning, Michels hit a two-run home run as USF took a 2-0 lead. Hubers, who had a hit prior to the home run, scored on the play. It was all the runs that USF's DItmarson would need. However, in the fourth inning, Butts had a two-out two-run single to score Hubers and Binsfield for a 4-0 lead.

Then Ditmarson was steady and in control as he allowed just two hits and a walk over his final 14 batters that he faced.
 
Game 2 -- Sioux Falls 9 Bemidji State 3 (9 innings)
In the 9-3 win in game two, USF had five batters with two hits, including a career-best three-hit game from Tyler Blackburn, and Alex Krout and Payton Livingston controlled the game on the mound as the Cougars won its second straight and swept the doubleheader.

USF jumped to a 3-0 lead before BSU tied it with three runs on four hits in the fourth inning. Then, USF adde two runs in the fourth inning, a single run in the fifth for a 6-3 lead. Bernardy's three-run home run in the seventh inning pretty much put the game in USF's corner as the Cougars took a 9-3 lead.

Krout (2-1) picked up his second win by working five innings and allowing just four hits with three runs while registering two strikeouts with a walk and throwing just 39 pitches to 20 batters. Payton Livingston had his second save of the season with a sterling effort in relief. He did not allow a hit in four innings while recording three strikeouts against three walks.

Offensively Connor King had two hits, including a double, and three runs scored. Junior shortstop Grant Lung added two hits and two RBI while Bernardy had two hits, a run scored and three RBI as he pummeled his 15^th career homer and his fourth of the season to lead USF. Jared Binsfield had two hits, RBI and two runs scored. He hit a double and triple. Hubers added two RBI and Blackburn had his three hits and an RBI. In total, USF had five extra base hits against three BSU pitchers.

After BSU tied the game with three runs in the top of the fourth inning, the Cougars scored twice in the bottom of the inning as Binsfield's triple score Sam Michels, who walked to open the inning. Then Hubers hit an RBI groundout for a 5-3 advantage. Later a double by Connor King to open the fifth was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Kate and a sac fly by Grant Lung as USF extended the lead to 6-3.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, Bernardy's three-run shot scored King and Lung for the 9-3 advantage.