SIOUX FALLS – With a walk-off hit by Connor King in the opener and an explosion for 13 runs in the second game, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (15-15, 11-15 NSIC) ran its winning streak to three games with a sweep of Upper Iowa (12-18, 10-14 NSIC, 4-3 and 13-9 wins on Saturday at Sioux Falls Stadium.

With the wins, USF moved to .500 on the season at 15-15 and 11-15 and ninth place in the NSIC. USF won game one, 4-3, in walk-off style as Connor King delivered the game-winning hit and Keenahn Coyle threw a complete game. In game two, Tyler Blackburn and Noah Buss had three hits and Tyler Cate had four to lead the offense as the Cougars won, 13-9.

"It was great getting two wins today. It wasn't our best baseball by any means but we hung in there in game one and they tied it up and were able to get a win. Connor King came up big for us like I knew he would," said USF Head Coach Grant Hieb. "He is the kind of player you want up at the plate with the game one the line. Then Alex Bertram and Payton Livingston came up huge for us in the bullpen in game two. It was huge for our offense to hang some runs and have the bullpen put up zeroes. We have two more big games tomorrow and hopefully clean up defensively and play the way we are capable," he said.

In the doubleheader, USF hit .373 with 22 hits in 59 at bats with 17 runs, and five extra base hits. The Cougars had a .525 slugging mark and .466 on-base percentage while recording three steals. Tyler Cate was 4-of-8 to raise his season average to .333 and Noah Buss had three hits in six trips, including his second career home run. Blackburn also had three hits and is now at 2.86 on the year with 10 RBI. Also of note, Ryan Bernardy hit his eighth home of the season and has 29 RBI. He now has 19 career home runs, which tied Matt Minnick (2015-18) for second on USF's career home run list.

Game 1 – Sioux Falls 4 Upper Iowa 3 (seven innings)
Keenahn Coyle (2-1) earned the win by throwing a complete game and Connor King's game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted the Cougars to a 4-3 win.
Coyle allowed three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in throwing 71 pitches across seven innings. He had his first complete game of the season in his fourth start. Keaton Parker (1-2) took the loss for Upper Iowa as he allowed the unearned run in the seventh inning.

USF had five hits in the game as Zane Butts, Trey Hubers, Ryan Bernardy, Grant Lung and King all collected hits.

USF opened the scoring with a run in the first inning when King walked and later scored on Lung's RBI hit. The Cougars added two runs in the third inning on a run-scoring single from Bernardy. Then, Bernardy scored on an error by the catcher as the Cougars led, 3-0. UIU added single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to tie the game. Noah Buss reached on an error in the seventh inning. He advanced to third on a sacrifice by Zane Butts to set the stage for King, who singled to center field to score Buss and give USF the win.

Game 2 – Sioux Falls 13 Upper Iowa 9 (nine innings)
With the offense breaking out with 13 runs and solid relief pitching from Alex Bertram and Payton Livingston, the Cougars earned a 13-9 win over Upper Iowa.

Starter Caleb Ditmarson worked 2 2/3 innings (nine hits, seven earned run, three strikeouts) before Alex Bertram (1-0) entered the game and gave USF 3 1/3 innings of two-hit, one run relief. He had a strikeout and walk in throwing 38 pitches. With that performance, he earned his first win in his career at USF. Livingston earned his third season as he allowed just one hit in three innings on the hill. He had a strikeout in throwing just 18 pitches.

USF's offense was led by Tyler Cate, who had a season-high four hits in six at bats with two runs scored. Noah Buss had three hits and three RBI with his second home run of his career. Tyler Blackburn added three hits, RBI and two runs scored. USF also had a home run from Ryan Bernardy, who had his eighth of the season.

After UIU scored twice in the first, the Cougars answered with four as Bernardy had an RBI sacrifice fly and Binsfeld had an RBI single. USF added two more when Grant Lung and Trey Hubers executed a double steal and came home on a throwing error by UIU for a 4-2 lead. UIU scored three in the third inning before Lung's RBI walk plated Zane Butts for a 5-5 tie. Then, the Peacocks scored four in the third frame for a 9-5 lead. But USF continued to battle back as Buss had an RBI double to cut the lead to 9-6.

In the fourth inning, USF scored five times for an 11-9 lead. Bernardy had an RBI sacrifice fly followed by Trey Hubers's RBI double. Then, Blackburn had a run-scoring single. Buss hammered his second career home run. In the seventh inning Bernardy hit a home run for a 12-9 lead. Then, USF concluded the scoring in the eighth inning on an RBI single from King.