SIOUX FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (12-14, 8-14 NSIC), which has won 4-of-5 games in league play, will stay in Sioux Falls this week as the Cougars face city rival Augustana (21-6, 17-6 NSIC) in an NSIC baseball doubleheader on April 21 and Upper Iowa (11-15, 9-11 NSIC) in back-to-back doubleheaders April 24-25. 

USF will take on the Vikings at Ronken Field at Augustana, with games at 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm on Wednesday, April 21. Click here to watch live and click here to follow along via live stats. 

The Cougars will then face the Upper Iowa Peacocks in two back-to-back doubleheaders at the Sioux Falls Stadium. The games on Saturday, April 24 will be at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm, while on Sunday, April 25 they will be at 12 pm and 2 pm. The final game of the series - 2nd game on Sunday - will be a nonconference matchup.  Click here to watch live and click here to follow along via live stats.

You can also follow all games by following the USF Athletics twitter account for live tweets - @USF_Athletics.

After going 2-1 against the Wayne St. Wildcats and a sweep of SMSU last week, the Cougars face an Augustana team that is currently on a three-game winning streak. The Vikings last win was a 9-0 decision over Concordia St. Paul on April 18 in Sioux Falls, SD. Meanwhile, the Peacocks are on a five-game losing streak, with their most recent matchup a 12-6 loss against the Minnesota State. 

Breaking down the Opponents -- 

This year, Augustana ranks 3rd in the NSIC, hitting at .336 with 46 home runs, 215 RBI, a 4.00 earned run average, and 95 earned runs in 248 innings. The Vikings are led by Carter Howell, with a batting average of .475, an on-base percentage of .550, 37 runs scored on 48 hits, eight doubles, two triples, six home runs, 27 RBI, and 78 total bases. Sam Baier is hitting .378 with 28 runs on 37 hits. Baier also has eight home runs and 30 RBI. On the mound, Max Steffens leads the Vikings, with a 1.27 earned run average. Tanner Brown has pitched the most innings, with 33.2, while Ryan Jares has struck out a team-high 44 batters. 

The Peacocks sit at ninth overall in the NSIC, just two places above the Cougars, with a .245 team batting average, six home runs, 100 RBI, a 5.10 earned run average, and 117 earned runs in 118 innings. Upper Iowa is led in the batter's box by Jake Hilmer, with a .363 batting average, a .417 on base percentage, 21 runs scored on 33 hits, six doubles, one triple, nine RBI, and 41 total bases.

Quick Season 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, winning the first game 4-2 on April 12 as Keenahn Coyle was stellar on the hill, and then losing both games on April 13 (1-9, 3-5). USF This past weekend, the Cougars went 2-1 against the Wayne State Wildcats, losing the first game 7-6 on April 17, but then winning the next two games (15-5, 4-3) on April 17-18. In the 15-5 win, USF was led by Grant Lung with three hits and five RBI  as he has pushed his average over .300 to .301. Tyler Blackburn had a career-day with four hits and four RBI and he hit his first career home run. Also homering for the first time was Trey Hubers. 

Series Notes - Augustana
In the last meeting, USF took a 7-1 loss to the Vikings on April 16, 2019. The overall series edge belongs to Augustana, 10-7. Overall, USF is 4-5 at home and 3-5 away with a 5-9 mark in conference mark during the DII era. In the first meeting in the DII era, USF took a 6-2 decision on the road. The Vikings have won three straight since the Cougars took a 4-2 decision on April 25, 2018, which haled a 12-game winning streak by the then No. 1 ranked Vikings at Sioux Falls Stadium. USF and AU have split the last eight matchups.

Series Notes - Upper Iowa
In the last meeting, the Cougars lost a 10-4 decision to the Peacocks on April 20, 2019 in Fayette, Iowa. The overall series also belongs to Upper Iowa, 7-6. In the past 10 match ups the two teams have split, 505. USF which is 4-2 at home and 6-7 in league play, had a victory on April 19, 2019 of 7-1. 

Breaking Down Cougars – USF at a Glance
USF is hitting .276 as a team, which ranks seventh in the NSIC. USF has hit 18 home runs and has 51 stolen bases for third in the NSIC. USF has a .416 slugging mark and a .383 OBP while sitting with 144 RBI and 321 total bases. On the mound, USF ranks 13^th in the NSIC with a 6.67 earned run average and 167 strikeouts. 

In the past 10 games, USF has hit .293 to jump its season average up to .276. The Cougars have eight home runs, 55 RBI, 50 runs and 88 hits in that span. USF, which has 24 extra base hits in those 10 games owns a .437 slugging mark and .385 team OBP during that stretch, when they have 13 steals and drawn 40 walks.

USF Player Notes -- Tyler Cate hitting .395 over past 10 games

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 1-1 this season with a 5.21 ERA, 17 strikeouts, 10 walks, 11 earned runs and 22 hits. Coyle is 5-14 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 .301 in 26 starts and has 28 hits in 93 at bats. He has a .452 slugging mark with three home runs, five doubles, and 27 RBI. He has a .367 OBP and has eight stolen bases in 11 attempts. Lung, who has hits in 20 games this year, once had five RBIs in a game, twice has three RBIs in a game and four other times has two RBI in a game as he has totaled seven multi-RBI games this season and 20 in his career (12-2 RBI games, 6 3-RBI games, including a career-high 6-RBI game in 2019). A starter in 129 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 is hitting .289 and has produced 22 runs on 26 hits. He has hit seven home runs and has a team-best 25 RBI. He hit his sixth HR of the season in game one against Northern St. and then added the tie-breaking and eventual game-winning home run in a 9-8 over SMSU earlier this week. 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 18 career home runs, which places third all-time in the DII era and is just one from second which is held by Matt Minnick, 19, 2016-18. The all-time leader is Josh Rehwaldt with 28 in 2016-19. With his 71 RBI, he ranks sixth all-time at USF. Bernardy has 91 hits and tied for 10th all-time(10th, Anthony Lopez, 2014-18) in 385 at bats for a .265 batting average. With seven home runs this season, he is tied for the third most in a season, a record held by Josh Rehwaldt with 10 in 2019. 

Freshman second baseman Tyler Cate is now hitting a team-best .345. Cate, who hit his first career home run in the third game against U-Mary, has had a solid 10-game run in which he hit .395 with 15 hits in 38 at bats and had six RBI plus a slugging percentage of .553 with a .465 OBP. This year, he has 29 hits in 84 at bats, 23 runs, two doubles, one home run and 15 RBI while sitting with a .429 slugging mark and a .443 OBP. He has seven steals in 10 attempts and is fielding .971 with two errors, 34 putouts and 34 assists.

Third baseman Zane Butts has been on a hot streak over the past 10 games as he has jumped his average over a .150 points to .277. In the past 10 games, he is hitting .387 with 12 hits in 31 at bats plus three doubles and his first career home run against Wayne State. He has had a team-best .645 slugging mark in that run and owns a .429 OBP. He has also dazzled in the field with 21 assists and numerous eye-popping plays at the hot corner. 

USF outfielder Trey Hubers is hitting .288 with 21 hits, 23 runs and 15 RBI. The Brandon native has a .397 slugging mark and a .409 OBP with seven steals in nine attempts. Another outfielder, Jared Binsfeld, has one 6-of-15 over the past five games and pushing his average to .284. He has 11 RBI, a .407 slugging mark and .381 OBP while recording six stolen bases. Zane Butts is batting .277, with 10 runs in 23 at bats, seven doubles, one home run, and 20 RBI. He has a hit in 16 games and multi-hits six times.

In the past 10 games, Tyler Blackburn has six games played and five starts when he has hit .421 with eight hits in 19 at bats and hit his first career home run and put together a .632 slugging mark and .500 OBP.  He is now hitting .288 on the season with a .356 OBP. Kyle Gulbrandson has started the season strong with a .381 mark in six starts and nine games. He has eight hits and a .476 slugging mark with a .417 OBP. 

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. 

Leadoff hitter Connor King has also been on a tear by hitting .324 woth a .465 OBP and .471 slugging mark over the last 10 games. He has had 11 hits, 11 runs, two doubles, and his first career home run against SMSU. As a result, he jumped his average 44 points to .247 and now 22 hits and 26 runs with a nine stolen bases.

In three starts in his career at USF, Caleb Ditmarson is 2-2 with a 6.86 earned run average with 19 strikeouts. He has a complete game and has worked at least five innings twice. Alex Krout (4-2) has made nine appearances and owns a 5.62 earned run average. In 24 innings, he has allowed 15 earned runs with 21 strikeouts against three walks.

Junior Matt Graham is 2-2 with a 4.50 earned run average with two complete games in seven appearances and six starts. He has a team-high 26 strikeouts and allowed 28 hits in throwing 44 innings, the most on the USF team.