SIOUX FALLS – Matt Graham threw a complete game shutout, six pitchers combined for a win while Ryan Meyer and Tyler Cate delivered on offense as the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (17-15, 12-15 NSIC) swept a doubleheader from Upper Iowa, 3-0, 2-1 on Sunday at Sioux Falls Stadium.

By pushing their winning streak to a season-high five games, the Cougars, which has also won nine of its past 11, stand 17-15 overall with a 12-15 NSIC record, which moves USF into ninth place in the league standings. In today's doubleheader, only the 3-0 win counts in the league standings as USF has four straight league wins. Game two with Upper Iowa (2-1 USF win) was a nonconference game. The five-game winning streak is the most since winning eight straight from March 29 to April 4, 2015.

In the opener, Matt Graham threw a complete game three-hit shutout in nine innings over Upper Iowa. In one of his best starts of his career, Graham had seven strikeouts.

"What can I say about game 1? Matt (Graham) pitched a gem. He had all of his pitches working and it was a fun game to watch, said USF Head Coach Grant Hieb, whose team will host Winona State in a three-game series on Senior weekend on May 1-2. "You obviously don't need a lot of offense when your pitchers throw a complete game. In game two, we wanted to get some of our bullpen guys some work and they really stepped up for us, added Hieb.

"It was awesome to have Charles (Roskowiak), one of our seniors, get the win. And, then having Alex Krout available to shut it down in the last inning was huge. I also need to note another huge knock for another guy playing his last season here, Ryan Meyer, who had the big hit in the sixth inning. Overall, it was a great weekend for us as a team and I am happy to see us getting better as the season goes on. We got our bye this midweek, which should help some of our banged up guys some time to heal up and have our pitching staff fresh for Winona State at home next weekend in what should shape up as a great series," said Hieb.

Stat Breakdown – In winning two games today, the USF pitching staff was outstanding with a n 0.57 earned run average across 16 innings while allowing nine hits and just one run. USF had 12 strikeouts to one walk. Tyler Blackburn and Ryan Meyer both had two hits while Tyler Cate had three hits. During the weekend sweep of Upper Iowa, USF hit .324 as a team with 22 runs on 36 hits and nine extra base hits. Tyler Cate led USF with seven hits in 14 at bats and a .563 OBP. In the past six games, USF is 5-1 and has a .274 batting average and .274 earned run average with 19 earned runs allowed in 46.2 innings while registering 34 strikeouts against eight walks. USF had three complete games in the six games.

Game 1 – Sioux Falls 3 Upper Iowa 0
Matt Graham (3-2) was the story of the 3-0 win in game one as he tossed a three-hit shutout.

For Graham, it was his third complete game of the season and his second one covering nine innings. He also went the distance in a win over Truman State on March 12, 2021. In fact, Graham, who lowered his era to 3.74, had his second straight win and quality start. Today, he had seven strikeouts without issuing a walk in throwing 76 pitches. The seven strikeouts are tied (Bemidji State, March 27) for the most this season.

The offense was led by shortstop Grant Lung, who had two RBI with a hit (double) and a run scored.  Tyler Blackburn had two hits and as did Tyler Cate, who had a run scored. USF scored two runs in the fourth inning and added the third run in the fifth frame.

Game 2 – Sioux Falls 2 Upper Iowa 1
USF utilized six pitchers, including Charles Roskowiak, who earned his first career win, in take a 2-1 decision over Upper Iowa.

On offense, senior Ryan Meyer provided the key hit, a tie-breaking run-scoring single, to give USF a 2-1 lead. Meyer had two hits and an RBI to lead the offense. USF had seven hits including one by Kyle Gulbrandson, Noah Buss, Zach Andreasen, Grant Lung and Tyler Kate.

Roskowiak was the fifth of six pitchers used. He moved to 1-1 on the season by throwing one hitting of shutout relief. Alex Krout finished with an inning of shutout relief to earn his team-best fourth save. Also combining to hold UIU to one run was Drew Leonard (one inning, one hit), Anthony Reese (one inning, one hit, one strikeout), Zachary Shastay (one hitting, one hit) and Jacob Emerson, who started and allowed one hit and one run in two innings of work. He had a strikeout.