SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (8-13, 4-13 NSIC) will conclude a 10-game road trip as the Cougars face Southwest Minnesota St. (7-12, 5-11 NSIC) in an NSIC doubleheader on Thursday (April 15) with games at 12 pm and 2 pm in Marshall, Minn. Originally the game were set for Wednesday, April 14 but moved to Thursday due to weather forecasts.

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The doubleheader at SMSU will end the Cougars 10-game road trip, with USF returning home to Sioux Falls Stadium on April 17 for a three-game series against Wayne State with a doubleheader (seven innings, first game; nine innings, second game) at 1:30/3:30 pm on April 17 and a single game (nine innings) noon start on April 18.

After going 1-2 against the SCSU Huskies over the weekend, the Cougars face an SMSU team that is currently on a five-game losing streak. The Mustangs last win was a 4-3 decision over Concordia St. Paul on April 2 in Marshall, Minn. In the Mustangs most recent matchup, they lost three straight against Winona St. on April 11-12 in Marshall, MN. 

This year, SMSU ranks 11th in the NSIC, hitting at .260 with nine home runs, 77 RBI, a 5.05 earned run average, and 82 earned runs in 92 innings. The Mustangs are led by Nathan Kuhn, with a batting average of .455, an on-base percentage of .538, 15 runs scored on 30 hits, seven doubles, nine RBI, and 37 total bases. Matt Bezdicek is hitting .323 with 7 runs scored on 20 hits. Bezdicek also has 3 home runs and 18 RBI. On the mound, John Bezdicek leads the Mustangs, with 28.2 innings pitched and 41 batters struck out. 

Quick Review of USF
To start the season, USF, which is directed by fifth-year Head Coach Grant Hieb, had a road sweep at Truman State, which allowed the Cougars to open 4-0 for the first time since 2010 when the Cougars had an 8-0 start while a member of the NAIA. This was the first time in the NCAA DII era that USF is off to such a strong start. In the opening weekend, the Cougars earned a 6-5 win in the opener and then took a 6-2 decision followed by a 2-1 win and put together its best offensive display of the season in a 16-4 win. USF then opened the NSIC against Minot State on March 20-21, falling 12-2, 13-3 and 11-3 in game held at Corbett Field, in Minot, N.D. After going to Minot State in a site reversal series (originally scheduled in Sioux Falls), USF lost three games to U-Mary in Bismarck, N.D., by a combined eight runs of 6-4, 8-6 and 8-4 when the Cougars had leads in each game. On April 6, they dropped a 7-3 decision to Northern State in Aberdeen and had a second game canceled after four innings with the game tied at 7-7. The Cougars went 1-2 against SCSU this past weekend, winning the first game 4-2 on April 12, and then losing both games on April 13 (1-9, 3-5).

Series Notes - SMSU

In the last meeting, USF took a 5-3 win over the Mustangs on March 27, 2019. The overall series has been very back and forth, with the Cougars and the Mustangs trading wins and losses every other game, leading to the 7-7 tie that stands now. 

Breaking Down Cougars – USF at a Glance

USF is hitting .254 as a team, which ranks 10th in the NSIC. USF has hit 12 home runs and has 43 stolen bases for third in the NSIC. USF has a .385 slugging mark and a .370 OBP while sitting with 103 RBI and 236 total bases. On the mound, USF ranks 13^th in the NSIC with a 7.04 earned run average. The Cougars have 145 strikeouts against 86 walks.

In a 4-2 win over St. Cloud State, Keenahn Coyle earned the win with seven innings of five-hit baseball. He allowed just one earned run, had four strikeouts against three walks and in seven innings had a 1.29 earned run average. It was Coyle's longest start since May 2019 when he went eight innings against Concordia St. Paul. He is 1-0 this season with a 3.21 ERA, 10 strikeouts, 10 walks, five earned runs and 14 hits. Coyle is 5-13 in his career with 6.41 ERA, 100 strikeouts, 151.2 innings and 44 appearances with 23 starts and one complete game.

Junior shortstop Grant Lung is hitting .264 in 21 starts and has 19 hits. He has a .431 slugging mark with three home runs, three doubles, and 19 RBI. He has a .349 OBP and has seven stolen bases. Lung, who has hits in 15 games this year, twice has three RBIs in a game and four other times has two RBI in a game as he has totaled six multi-RBI games this season and 19 in his career (12-2 RBI games, 6 3-RBI games, including a career-high 6-RBI game in 2019). A starter in 124 straight games, he has 24 career steals, 62 runs, 33 career extra base hits, 71 career RBI and 113 hits in 431 at bats for a .262 career average. Lung has 18 multi-hit games in his career.

Senior first baseman Ryan Bernardy his hitting .288 and has produced 16 runs on 21 hits. During the last ten games, he has hit all six of his home runs and has a team-best 20 RBI. He hit his sixth HR of the season in game one against Northern St. He had a season-best five RBI against Bemidji State on March 27. Six times this season has multi-hit games and 21 in his career (3-3 hit games, 17 2-hit games). Bernardy has 17 career home runs, which places him in a tie for third all-time at USF in the DII era with Connor Merriam (2016-18) and is just two from second which is held by Matt Minnick, 19, 2016-18. The all-time lead is Josh Rehwaldt with 28 in 2016-19. With his 63 RBI, he is tied with Austin Richey (2014-17) for ninth all-time. He has 85 hits (11th all-time, sixth from 10th, Anthony Lopez, 2014-18) in 385 at bats for a .265 batting average. With six home runs this season, he is tied for the sixth most (6, Connor Merriam, 2018; Josh Rehwaldt, 2017; Matt Minnick, 2016).

Freshman second baseman Tyler Cate had a big series against U-Mary and hit .545 with six hits in 11 at bats and two runs scored with a home run and two RBI. He had a .909 slugging mark and .643 OBP while fielding 1.000. Cate continued his hot streak with two hits in three at bats and both a run scored and RBI against Northern State. He is now hitting a team-best .313. Cate, who hit his first career home run in the third game against U-Mary, has 20 hits, 14 runs, two doubles, one home run and 11 RBI while sitting with a .391 slugging mark and a .422 OBP. He has six steals in eight attempts and is fielding .979 with one error, 24 putouts and 23 assists.

USF outfielder Trey Hubers is hitting .288 with 15 hits, eight runs and seven RBI. The Brandon native has a .365 slugging mark and a .448 OBP with six steals. Another outfielder, Jared Binsfeld, has a .266 average with six RBI,. 375 slugging mark and .382 OBP while recording five stolen bases. Zane Butts is batting .242 and has jumped his averaging .80 points since March 28 by going 11-of-29 or a .379 average. He has 13 RBI and has a hit in 12 games and multi hits four times.

On the mound, Cole Schumacher is 1-1 with a 3.86 earned run average in two starts. He has a team-high 13 strikeouts, including a career-best eight in his last start against Minot State. He threw a complete game three-hitter against Truman State on March 13, when he had five strikeouts. 

In three starts in his career at USF, Caleb Ditmarson is 1-1 with a 7.53 earned run average with 16 strikeouts. He has a complete game and has worked at least five innings twice. Alex Krout (3-2) has made seven appearances and owns a 5.57 earned run average. In 21 innings, he has allowed 13 earned runs with 18 strikeouts against three walks.

Junior Matt Graham is 1-2 with a 4.71 earned run average with two complete games in six appearances and five starts. He has a team-high 23 strikeouts and allowed 23 hits in throwing 36.1 innings, the most on the USF team.