BRANDON, S.D. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (14-13, 6-6 NSIC) dropped a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games to St. Cloud State (15-9, 7-3 NSIC) at First National Bank Field on Sunday.
In a reverse site game held in Brandon, SCSU accumulated 23 hits and 16 runs while USF had five runs on five hits combined in the league doubleheader. The two teams will match up again on Monday in Brandon, S.D., with a 1:30 pm start time.
Game 1 – St. Cloud State 8 Sioux Falls 2
Riley Ahearn (4-2) threw a complete three-hitter to lead SCSU to an 8-2 win over USF in game one. The right-hander from SCSU allowed just three hits and two runs while striking out eight batters and recording just one walk.
USF righthander
Caleb Ditmarson (3-2) took the loss after giving up nine hits and five earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. Ditmarson, who leads USF in strikeouts with 40, had five in the game against just one walk.
Alex Bertram (1/3 inning, no hits) and
Grayson Skinner (one inning, two hits, earned run) also worked for USF.
SCSU's offense was led by Sam Riola who had four hits, three runs scored and two RBI while John Nett had two hits and two RBI. USF's offense was led by
Tyler Cate with a hit and two runs scored.
Noah Christenson had a hit and RBI as did
Ben Serie.
USF took a 1-0 lead on an RBI base hit by Serie which plated Cate. After SCSU took a 2-1 lead, Cate scored in the third inning on Christenson's RBI single. In the bottom of the third inning SCSU took the lead with two runs and added two more in the fifth inning and one in the sixth frame.
Game 2 – St. Cloud State 8 USF 3
In game two, USF had a solid outing from
Matt Graham on the hill but SCSU used a two-run fourth inning and a four-run eighth inning to break away in what was a close game.
Graham (1-4) allowed nine hits and four runs in six innings while recording a strikeout and walking one.
Derek Lundgren finished for the Cougars, allowing three hits and four runs with two strikeouts in two innings on the hill.
After Ryan Duffy opened for SCSU and last three innings (two runs, no hits, five walks, six strikeouts), Rick Brauns worked 1 ½ innings and allowed a hit with two strikeouts. The winning pitcher was Ethan Lanthier, who moved to 1-0 on the season, after allowing just one hit and one run in 3 1/3 innings while recording eight strikeouts. Eli Emerson finished for USF as he allowed a hit and walked one in one inning in relief.
USF's offense was led by its two leadoff hitters,
Connor King, who had three walks and two runs scored, and
Tyler Cate, who drew a career-game-best five walks while scoring a run. Trey Huber's had a hit and RBI while
Ben Serie also had an RBI. Zach Andreason and
Brady Klehr also recorded hits. For SCSU, Sam Riola had two hits and three RBI with a home run to lead the SCSU offense.
Stat Update
Through 27 games, USF is hitting .284 as a team, led by
Noah Christenson who is hitting .402 with team-highs with 39 hits, six doubles, 24 RBI and 48 total bases. He has a .495 slugging and .436 obp.
Tyler Cate is hitting .358 with 34 hits, a .411 slugging mark and a team-best .451 OBP. He is tied with
Grant Lung with 10 stolen bases. USF has scored 167 runs with 232 hits with 30 doubles and 15 home runs. The Cougars have a .385 slugging mark and .377 OBP.
On the mound, USF has a 6.10 earned run average with 187 strikeouts in 202 innings.
Caleb Ditmarson (3.86 earned run average and team-high 40 strikeouts) and
Andrew Maslowski (21 strikeouts) lead USF with three runs.
Alex Krout has four saves and a 3.14 earned run average.
So far, USF is 11-1 when leading after six and 4-0 when leading after seven innings. USF is 12-1 when outhitting opponents.
