SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – With a three-game winning streak in tow, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (20-18, 12-11 NSIC) will travel to Upper Iowa (8-21, 6-12 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball on Tuesday (April 18) with a mid-week doubleheader scheduled for 12/2 pm at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette, Iowa.  

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Quick Preview
After opening 4-0 with a sweep of doubleheaders against Southwest Baptist, the Cougars, directed by sixth-year Head Coach Grant Hieb (91 career wins – 68 NSIC wins) dropped three-of-four games against Metro State-Denver. USF went 3-4 in Florida over spring break, and 2-1 against Minnesota Crookston as NSIC play opened. They split a doubleheader with Minot State before winning 2-of-3 against Southwest Minn. State on March 26-27. USF had a series win over Bemidji State (2-1) and a doubleheader loss to U-Mary before hosting and defeating Concordia St. Paul three times to move to sixth in the NSIC with a 12-11 record and 20-18 overall.  USF allowed just four earned runs in wins of 7-2, 2-0, and 7-2 over the weekend at First National Bank Field in Brandon, S.D. In the 1-0 win Logan Parker-Sjoberg made his first career start and threw five shutout innings. Alex Krout earned his seventh save and then also picked up his eighth save – tops in the NSIC – in the 7-2 game two win. The 1-0 win by USF was the first of that nature since a 1-0 win at CSP on May 1, 2016 in St. Paul, Minn., when the Cougars had a walk-off win to back the four-hit shutout of Dan Johnson, who worked nine innings.  

Look at the Opponent – Upper Iowa
UIU, which has dropped 6-of-10, lost this past weekend at St. Cloud State, 3-2 and 6-2. They sit 8-21 overall with a 6-12 league mark. The Peacocks are led by fourth-year head coach Jeremy Ische. UIU is 4-5 at home this year with a 4-14 in away and 0-2 neutral site games. On offense, Jerry Garcia leads the Peacocks with a .314 average with 27 hits and a .368 OBP while stealing seven bases. Ryan Hull has a .288 average and leads UIU with two homers. Ethan Sawyer is leading the squad with 19 RBI. On the  hill, UIU has a 5.49 earned run average and is led by starter Colin Lacey with a 3-2 record and 3.73 earned run average in seven games. Sam Marhefke has made 10 appearances and is 1-1 with two saves out of the bullpen.   

Series Record
The Cougars lead Upper Iowa in the overall series, 10-7, with four straight victories. The Cougars won the most recent games with a 2-1, 3-0 doubleheader sweep on April 25, 2021. USF has won 7-of-10 but split the last meeting in Upper Iowa as the Peacocks took a 10-4 win over April 20, 2019 after falling 7-1 on April 19, 2019. On that same day, UIU took a 1-0 win over USF. 

Breaking Down USF Baseball - By the Numbers
USF is now hitting .289 for sixth in the NSIC. USF has 233 runs, 336 hits, 42 doubles, 23 home runs and 69 stolen bases as they have a 20-18 overall mark and 12-11 conference record. USF is 11-10 at home. Noah Christenson leads USF with a .372 average, which ranks eighth in the NSIC< and="" has="" a="" team-high="" 51="" hits,="" 35="" runs="" and="" 3="" rbi="" with="" a="" .423="" obp.="" he="" is="" hitting="" .333="" in="" league="" play="" which="" ranks="" second="" on="" usf.="">Brady Klehr is hitting .345 with 39 hits, eight doubles and four home runs along with 25 RBI and a .522 slugging mark. He has a team-best .342 average in league play. Ben Serie is hitting .310 with a team-high seven home runs along with a team-high 69 total bases and has 26 RBI as well as a team-best .548 slugging mark.

On the mound, USF lowered its earned run average from 6.17 to 5.84 after the solid mound work against CSP. USF has two shutouts, nine saves, three complete games with 267 strikeouts in 288 innings. As a team USF has recorded 19 double plays.

USF's starting staff is led by Caleb Ditmarson, who is 4-2 overall with a team-high 47 strikeouts. In league play, he has a 3.33 earned run average and a 2-1 mark with 29 strikeouts in 24.1 innings. In the pen, USF has Alex Krout, a senior who has made 13 appearances and has a league-best eight saves. He has 20 strikeouts 19.1 innings with a 2.70 earned run average with a 2.03 earned run average in league play when he has 14 strikeouts in 13 innings. Also in the NSIC, Alex Bertram has 12 appearances with a 1.80 earned run average and 12 strikeouts in 10 innings. 

Cougars will play home games at First National Bank Field in Brandon, SD
Due to upcoming field upgrades at Sioux Falls Stadium, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team will play its home schedule in 2022 at the First National Bank Stadium in Brandon, S.D.