BRANDON, S.D. – With a season-best 11 runs in the fifth inning, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (13-10, 5-3 NSIC) earned a 15-3 NSIC win over Southwest Minnesota State (8-10, 1-5 NSIC) on Sunday on a cool day at First National Bank Field.
The Cougars tied a season-best with 15 runs scored (Feb. 26, 15-8 win over Denver-MSU) as the Cougars have a 5-3 lead mark and stand 5-3 on its current 10-game homestand. USF has two home games left in the home-stand as they are to face Northern State on Wednesday (weather permitting) at FNB Field.
Leading the way for USF against SMSU today was a trio of players with three RBI.
Noah Christenson, who hit .600 across the three-game series, had three hits in four at bats with three runs scored and three RBI. He jumped his average to a team-best .440 and has a team-high 22 RBI. Senior left fielder
Trey Hubers had three hits and three RBI as he now has 19 RBI on the season. Also senior catcher
Tyler Blackburn had two hits, including his second home run of the season, with two runs scored and three RBI in USF's 12-hit attack. Also hitting a home run for USF was designated hitter
Zach Andreasen, who had his second of the season.
Sophomore right-hander
Andrew Maslowski moved to 3-2 with a solid effort on the mound. He allowed eight hits but just one earned run across five innings with four strikeouts. In the run-rule shortened game,
Connor McGonigal and
Alex Bertram both threw an inning of scoreless relief when neither right-hander allowed a base hit.
After SMSU took a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Keenan Wenzel in the second inning, USF responded with three in the third frame, which included Andreasen's leadoff home run. Then in the fourth inning, Blackburn had a home run as USF led, 4-3. After SMSU drew within 4-3 with a run in the fifth inning, the Cougars answered in a big way. USF put together 11 runs on eight hits and sent 15 batters to the plate in the home half of the inning. With that offensive outburst, USF took a 15-3 lead.
Theo Giedd took the loss for SMSU as he fell to 0-2. He allowed run runs and four hits in three innings of work.
Stat Breakdown – Series totals
Noah Christenson hit .600 to lead USF against SMSU in the three-game series. He had six hits in 10 at bats with four runs, a double and seven RBI. He slugged .700 with a .538 OBP. Senior centerfielder
Connor King also had a big series with five hits in 11 at bats for a .455 average. He also had three walks and an OBP of .571.
Ben Serie and
Tyler Cate both hit .375 while
Trey Hubers and
Brady Klehr hit .333. Hubers had five RBI and has 19 on the year. As a result, USF hit .341 with 29 runs or 9.33 game with 30 hits, including four doubles and four home runs. USF, which had a .523 slugging mark and a .450 OBP, was 5-of-5 on steal attempts. On the mound, USF had a 4.70 earned run average, led by
Caleb Ditmarson at 0.00 with his one-hit shutout in game one. USF totaled 21 strikeouts against nine walks in 23 hits, allowing 12 earned runs.
On the Season – Christenson pacing team
Through 23 games, USF has a 13-10 record and a .296 average as a team. USF, which has a .386 team OBP, has scored 157 runs with 209 hits, and 122 RBI. The Cougars have 28 doubles, four triples and 15 home runs.
Noah Christenson leads USF with a .440 average and team-highs in hits (37), runs (25), RBI (22), total bases (46).
Tyler Cate is hitting .393 with 33 hits and 24 runs and a team-best .464 OBP. Seven batters are hitting at least .295 with five at .300 or better. On the mound, USF has a 6.14 earned run average with
Caleb Ditmarson leading the way with a 3-1 record, a 2.97 earned run average and a team-high 35 strikeouts.
Alex Krout has a 3.38 earned run average and four saves. USF has totaled 166 strikeouts in 173 innings.
