BRANDON, S.D. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (24-21, 16-14 NSIC) dropped a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games to No. 16 Minnesota State (29-5, 22-3 NSIC) on Wednesday at First National Bank Field.

The Cougars retain a hold on fifth place in the league with its 16-14 record (.533 pct).  MSU is now 22-3 (.853) in the NSIC and at the top of the NSIC. USF has won a program DII-best 24 games overall and its 16 league wins is also the best in DII program history. The Cougars will travel down the street to face city rival Augustana on Saturday and Sunday.

Game 1 – Minnesota State 11 Sioux Falls 5 (seven innings)
In the opener, MSU rode the pitching of Brendan Noll and the hitting of Ryan Wickman and Nick Altermatt to win 11-5.

Knoll (7-1) allowed three earned runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings while striking out six and walking five. Kyle Nordby finishing for MSU as he had four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. MSU pitchers had 10 strikeouts but walked six USF batters.

The Cougars, which had five runs on five hits were led by Brady Klehr with two hits while Connor King had two runs scored and Noah Christenson and Ben Serie both had an RBI. Klehr, Tyler Cate and Connor King all had a stolen base.

Mason Leonard (1-1) had the start for the Cougars and had some good numbers. He had eight strikeouts across four innings of work but walked six which hurt as he allowed eight runs on seven hits. Logan Parker-Sjoberg allowed three runs on four hits and had two strikeouts.

MSU took a 4-0 lead after two innings but the Cougars cut the deficit in half with two runs. But MSU answered with seven straight runs. The Cougars had three runs in the fifth inning to cut the margin but the rally fell short.

Game 2 – Minnesota State 13 Sioux Falls 2 (seven innings)
In the second half of the doubleheader, MSU was led by the pitching of Nick Altermatt and the bat of Jackson Hauge and Cam Kline to pick up a 13-2 win.

MSU led, 8-0, after three innings and pushing the lead to 10-0 before USF scored a pair in the fourth inning after Tyler Cate walked and was driven home on a triple by Connor King. Then, King scored on an RBI ground out by Christenson.

Altermatt allowed just one hit and two runs with eight strikeouts in six innings. He also had a hit, a two-run home run. Hauge also homered and had three hits, two runs scored and three RBI.

USF had hits from King (triple) and Trey Hubers to lead the offense. Cole Schumacher (0-5) took the loss as he allowed eight hits and seven runs with a strikeout in two innings. Zachary Shastay (2 innings, three hits, three runs, strikeout), Grayson Skinner (1 1/3 innings, five hits, three runs, three strikeouts) and Jacob Emerson (1 2/3 innings, no runs, no hits) also worked for USF.

Stats Update – Through 45 games, the Cougars are 14-12 at home and 6-4 on the road with a 4-5 neutral site mark. The team is hitting .282 with 389 hits and 264 runs. The Cougars had 50 doubles, six triples and 24 home runs with a .380 slugging and .374 OBP. They have recorded 81 stolen bases. Noah Christenson leads USF with a .343 average and has a team-high 38 RBI with a .390 OBP and 11 stolen bases. Brady Klehr is hitting .341 with five home runs and 27 RBI. He has a .519 slugging to lead the Cougars. Tyler Cate is hitting .307 with 13 steals and 50 hits. Ben Serie is also hitting .300 at .302 with a team-high seven home runs and 27 RBI. He has a .510 slugging and a .402 OBP. Connor King is hitting .282 with a team-best .420 OBP.

On the hill, USF has a 5.88 earned run average with 320 strikeouts in 347.1 innings. USF has four pitchers – Caleb Ditmarson, Andrew Maslowski, Matt Graham and Derek Lundgren with four wins. The Cougars have eight saves from Alex Krout.