DAVENPORT, FLA. – Caleb Ditmarson dominated on the mound and Brady Klehr had a big day at the plate to lead the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (7-7) to a 4-1 win in game two and a split of the doubleheader with Wayne State (Mich.) on Saturday at the Russmat Central Florida Invitational.

With the victory, the Cougars moved to 7-7 on the season while Wayne State fell to 8-4 overall. USF will wrap up its Florida trip in the Russmat Central Florida Invitational with a nonconference matchup with St. Cloud State at 4 pm (CST) on Sunday.

"Caleb threw a gem for us. It was fun to watch. It was much needed after not playing well in the first game of the doubleheader. For him to go the distance was huge given we're playing a lot of games in a short amount of time," said USF Head Coach Grant Hieb. "Brady came up with some clutch hits for us and also played a great centerfield. Overall, it was a great team effort as we played solid defense behind Caleb, and our offense was able to push some insurance runs across late in the game and give him a little breathing room to go the distance. I'm hoping we can build on this effort and continue to play good baseball as we finish out our spring break trip with our final game tomorrow."

Ditmarson tied a career-high with eight strikeouts while throwing a five-hit complete game in the second game. It was the third complete game of his career as he improved to 1-1 on the season. Brady Klehr was 2-of-3 in the second game with two RBI to lead the offense.

On the day, Klehr hit .600 by going 3-of-5 with two runs, two doubles and two RBI. He had a sterling 1.000 slugging mark. Tyler Blackburn also had two hits in three at bats today with an RBI. On the mound, USF, which lost game one, 9-2, had a 1.93 earned run average. However, USF also just three earned run in 14 innings on the hill.
 
Game 1 – Wayne State 9 USF 2
In the opener, USF dropped a 9-2 decision as WSU scored three runs in the second and road the arm of Kaden Stively to pick up the win.

USF had just two runs on five hits while WSU finished with seven hits and nine runs, although just two were earned as the Cougars committed three errors.

USF pitcher Andrew Maslowski (1-2) started and took the loss after going3 1/3 innings and allowing six hits and three earned runs while striking out four and walking two. Derek Lundgren took over in the fourth inning and return 2-of-3 the three hitters that he faced. Lundgren worked 2 2/3 innings and allow two unearned runs with a strikeout and a walk. Alex Bertram also worked in relief, going one inning and allowing just one hit.

On offense, Tyler Blackburn had a pair of hits, including a run-scoring double. Cate had a single while Brady Klehr and Trey Hubers both had doubles. Noah Christenson had an RBI.

For WSU, Kaden Stively (2-0) allowed three hits and two runs with six strikeouts in earning the win.

In the bottom of the second inning, Tyler Blackburn hit a run-scoring single to score Hunter Scruggs (walk) as USF cut Wayne State's lead to 3-1. USF cut into the lead in the home half of the third inning after Brady Klehr doubled to open the inning, stole third base and scored on an RBI ground out by Noah Christenson.

Wayne State scored three in the second inning and added four more in the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead.

Game 2 – USF 4 Wayne State 1
Caleb Ditmarson had his best pitching performance of the season while Brady Klehr provided the offense as the Cougars earned a 4-1 win.

Ditmarson battled the WSU hitters also day as he allowed just five hits across seven innings with one earned run. He tied a career-best eight strikeouts and walked just two hitters. Klehr had big hits to lead USF to the win. He finished with two hits in three at bats and had two RBI with a run scored. He had a double among his two hits. USF also had base hits from Jared Binsfeld (double), Noah Christenson and Ben Serie.

Klehr's run-scoring double in the third inning to brought home Jared Binsfeld (walk) with the first run of the game. After Christenson had an infield hit, Grant Lung's sacrifice fly scored Klehr as the Cougars took a 2-0 lead. In the seventh inning, USF added two insurance runs as Connor King scored on a passed ball and Klehr had a run-scoring single to give USF a 4-1 lead.
 
Stat Update: USF is now hitting .303 on the season as a team with seven home runs, 76 RBI, 131 hits and a .414 slugging mark. USF, which has a .392 on-base percentage, is 26-of-31 in stolen bases and has 21 doubles and three triples while drawing 52 walks. Noah Christenson leads the way with a .449 batting average and a team-high 22 hits and .482 OBP. With his percentage today, Brady Klehr is now hitting .351 on the season with a .568 slugging mark. Tyler Blackburn upped his average to .360 and his slugging mark to .600. The USF pitching staff, which now has 92 strikeouts in 101 innings, lowered its earned run average to 6.59.