BRANDON, S.D. – Noah Christenson had three hits, Zach Andreasen hit a pinch hit insurance home run and Alex Krout earned his fourth save as the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (10-8, 2-1 NSIC) won the season-opening Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference series with Minnesota Crookston (9-13, 1-2 NSIC) after a 7-5 win on Sunday (March 20) at First National Bank Field.

Christenson, who hit .357 over the three-game set, had three hits, including a double, while scoring two runs to lead the USF offense, which churned out 10 hits. Tyler Cate, who hit .417 across the three games with a .462 OBP, had two hits while Grant Lung, Trey Hubers, Ben Serie and Andreasen all had hits.

In his only at bat in the three game series, Andreasen hit his first-career home run with a shot over the right field fence. After Andrew Maslowski had a solid outing in moving 2-2, Alex Krout finished off the game with three innings of shutout relief. He also allowed just two hits and recorded a pair of strikeouts in throwing just 22 pitches.

"It was a great team win," said USF Head Coach Grant Hieb. "To jump on them early and then hold off their comeback was great to see. I was glad my guys bounced back after playing very poorly yesterday in game two," added Hieb.

Maslowski allowed five hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings but had six strikeouts against three walks.

"Andrew (Maslowski) threw well and our bullpen had a solid effort. Zach (Andreasen) had a big pinch hit home run to get us some a little insurance and Alex (Krout) did what he's been doing for the us the past two years, close the door at the end of the game," added Hieb. "It was big to start conference play by winning the series against a solid opponent like (Minnesota) Crookston. I'm hoping we can carry the momentum into a hit midweek series against Minot State," he said.

USF started fast as Hubers hit a run-scoring triple to bring home Christenson, who had reached on a fielder's choice for a 1-0 lead. Hubers scored on a safety-squeeze by Brady Klehr. Eventually, Klehr scored when Ben Serie, who singled and stole second, advanced home on the throw.

In the third inning, Serie walked with two out. After Tyler Blackburn reached on a mishandled third strike, Serie advanced to third. He scored when Blackburn was caught in a rundown between first and second base.

UMC answered with a three-spot in the fourth inning as Zeke Haas, Ben Goelz and Mike Goodwin all had RBI. USF added two runs in the fifth inning with the benefit of a UMC error. After Christenson singled to right field and stole second, he moved to third on a ground out. Grant Lung drew a walk and then stole second. Both Lung and Christenson scored on a two-out error by UMC.  In the top of the sixth inning, UMC had a two-run home run from Teddy Giefer to draw within 6-5. USF reliever Connor McGonigal struck out Tyler Jochen to end the inning.

With a one-run lead, Andreasen was sent to plate in the eighth inning and hit the first pitch over the right-field fence for a 7-5 lead. Then, Krout closed out UMC, including a two-on, two-out strikeout in the top of the ninth inning to earn his fourth save and ninth since he came to USF.
 
Breaking Down the Series – As a team, USF hit .284 with 27 hits in 95 at bats and 17 runs scored or nearly six per game. USF had a .453 slugging mark and .352 on-base percentage while stealing 8-of-11 bases. The Cougars, which had a .971 fielding mark with just three errors, also had 24 strikeouts against 12 walks in 25 innings. USF used 11 different pitchers during the three-game set.
Offensively, Tyler Cate led the way by hitting .417 with five hits in 12 at bats and two runs scored. He slugged .500 with a 462 on-base percentage. Jared Binsfeld, who had a dazzling catch at the wall in the 7-5 win over UMC, hit .375 with three hits in eight at bats. Noah Christenson hit .357 with five hits and Trey Hubers and Connor King both hit .333.  Brady Klehr, Ben Series, Noah Christenson and Zach Andreasen all hit home runs.
 
How Things Stand – USF is 10-8 on the season and 2-1 in league play. The Cougars are hitting .296 with a .411 slugging and .382 on-base percentage. USF, which is 34-of-42 on stolen bases, has hit 11 home runs and scored 119 runs with 166 hits. Noah Christenson leads USF with a .418 average with a team-high 28 hits and 19 runs. Tyler Cate is hitting .382 with a .440 OBP. Brady Klehr (.333), and Trey Hubers (.317) are also hitting over .300. USF's pitching staff has a 6.40 earned run average and is led by starter Caleb Ditmarson. He has a 2-1 record with a 3.86 earned run average in four starts with one complete game and a team-high 25 strikeouts. The bullpen is led by Connor McGonigal, who has a 2-0 record and 0.93 earned run average while Alex Krout has a 2.89 earned run average with four saves in six appearances. McGonigal has 15 strikeouts while Krout has eight.