Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DENVER, COLO. -- The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (5-3) lost a doubleheader to Metro State-Denver (9-5) on Sunday by scores of 11-1 and 7-4.

The Cougars wrapped up the series with MSU-Denver with one win in four games. USF will look to rebound on their trip to Florida. Up next for the Cougars will be a road trip to Russmat Central Florida Invitational on March 9-13 with seven games on the schedule. USF opens with Grand Valley State for a doubleheader on March 9 in Auburndale, Fla. 

Quick Review of today's DH - In game 1, MSU took an 11-1 decision after opening up a 9-0 lead through four innings. Owen Feser scored USF's only run on a double steal executed with Tyler Blackburn on base. In the second game, MSU took an early 2-0 lead before USF rallied for a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning. But MSU scored five in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the game and the sweep of the doubleheader. After finishing with five hits in game one, USF totaled 10 hits in game two with seven players registering at least one hit. Noah Christenson had two hits and two RBI while Ben Serie and Trey Hubers also had RBI in the second game setback.

Quick view of season stats - On Sunday, Noah Christenson continued his strong start to the season with five hits in six at bats. The redshirt freshman from Buffalo, Minn., who is the reigning NSIC Player of the Week, is now hitting .531 with a team-high 17 hits and a .625 slugging plus .553 on-base percentage. USF has seven players hitting .300 on better including Tyler Cate at .394; Grant Lung, .364; Brady Klehr, .364; Trey Hubers, .360; Tyler Blackburn, .333; and Noah BUss, .300. At a team USF is hitting  .327 with 72 runs and 91 hits as well as seven home runs. USF has a .464 slugging mark and a .418 on-base percentage with 19 stolen bases in 21 attempts. On the mound, USF has recorded 59 strikeouts in 60 innings with 29 walks. 

Game 1 – MSU 11 USF 1
Austin Stone (1-0) limited USF to two hits across six innings and walked two with a strikeout to help lead the Roadrunners to the game one victory.

MSU scored a run in the first inning, added four in the second and one in the third with three runs in the fourth innings to take a 9-0 lead and earned the run rule shortened games (8 innings).

Andrew Maslowski (1-1) took the loss for USF as he allowed eight hits and six runs while recording one strikeout. Jacob Emerson (two winnings, seven hits, four runs, strikeout), Jack Blogg (two innings, hit, two strikeouts, walk) and Drew Leonard (two hits, unearned run) also worked on the mound for the Cougars.

USF had just five hits but all three came off the bat of Noah Christenson. Hunter Scruggs and Tyler Blackburn also collected hits. Owen Feser scored the USF run on a double steal in the seventh inning. 

Game 2 – MSU 7 USF 4

Noah Christenson, Grant Lung and Noah Buss all collected a pair of hits but USF dropped a 7-4 decision in game two as MSU rallied late.

The Roadrunners took an early lead on a two-run home run by Brad Ralston but the Cougars had the answer in the middle innings. USF tallied a run in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth inning to take a 4-2 lead. However, MSU answered with a five-spot in the bottom of the sixth inning and held off USF in the seventh inning.

Christenson had two hits and two RBI with his two-run double giving USF a 4-2 lead. Lung also had a pair of hits in three at bats while Buss had two hits in three at bats. Trey Hubers also had an RBI as did Ben Serie with their two run-scoring hits producing the 2-2 time. 

Caleb Ditmarson (1-1) took the setback after a solid outing. He allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings with two strikeouts and two walks. But, Ditmarson was strong through five, limiting the Roadrunners to just two runs until they found the answer in the sixth inning. Senior Alex Krout also worked for USF. In his one inning of work, he allowed three hits and two runs.