SIOUX  FALLS – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (24-23, 16-16 NSIC) dropped a pair of games to city rival and No. 20 Augustana (38-7-1, 28-4 NSIC) on Sunday at Ronken Field. The Vikings took a 2-0 win in game one and a 12-4 decision in the second half of the doubleheader.

Despite the losses today against another nationally-ranked squad, the Cougars remain in fifth in the NSIC at 16-16. The Cougars, which have a DII school record mark of 24-23 overall, are in the hunt for a second straight (third overall) NSIC Tourney appearance. The top eight finishers in the NSIC standings, based on winning percentage, will advance to the tournament which is set for May 11-14 in Sioux Falls (Ronken Field) and Brandon, S.D. (First National Bank Field).

USF will face Augustana at 4 pm on Monday at Ronken Field and have a pair of games at Winona State on Tuesday, May 3 to conclude the regular-season slate.

Game 1 – Augustana 2 Sioux Falls 0 (7 inn.)
Despite a strong outing by Caleb Ditmarson on the mound, USF dropped a 2-0 decision to Augustana.

Ditmarson (4-3) worked six innings and allowed just four hits and two runs with three strikeouts in throwing 76 pitches. USF's offense was led by Noah Christenson, who had two hits for the Coo.
Tanner Brown (7-0) shut down the Cougars in earning his seventh win of the season. In throwing 97 pitches, he had 13 strikeouts and allowed two hits. The Vikings pushed across runs in the first inning and fifth inning for the 2-0 lead which held up.

Game 2 – Augustana 12 Sioux Falls 4 (9 inn.)
Despite home runs from Brady Klehr and Tyler Cate, the Cougars were outscored by Augustana in game two, 12-4.

Caleb Saari (6-1) pitched an effective game for the Vikings in earning the victory. The Vikings took a 3-2 lead in the third inning and added a single tally in the fourth frame with two in the fifth and sixth innings before a four-spot in the eighth frame.

Andrew Maslowski (4-4) worked 4 2/3 innings for USF, allowing 10 hits and four earned runs with three strikeouts and two walks. Derek Lundgren worked 1 1/3 innings and allowed two runs two hits with two strikeouts with a walk. Zachary Shastay worked the seventh inning and had a strikeout in one inning of work. Connor McGonigal worked 1/3 inning in the eighth inning and allowed four runs on three hits. Jacob Emerson worked 2/3 of an inning and allowed a hit.

Klehr had two hits and two RBI for USF. His home run was the sixth of the season for the sophomore.

Trey Hubers had two hits, including a double, while Noah Christenson had his third hit in the doubleheader in just four at bats. Kyle Gulbrandson also had a base hit. Augustana was led by Jordan Barth with three hits while Carter Howell added two hits.

Down 2-0 in the third inning, Tyler Cate hit a two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2. For Cate, he had his third career home run and the first of this season.

However, Augustana followed up with a run in the fourth inning to break the tie and added a pair in the fifth for a 6-2 lead. In the eighth inning, Brady Klehr hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to 8-4. The Vikings responded with a two-run home run by Mitch Stroh for a 10-4 lead and added two more runs in the frame.

Stats Breakdown – Through 47 games, USF has a .278 batting average with a .370 OBP and a .377 slugging mark. The Cougars, which have scored 50 runs in the fifth inning and 41 in the first frame, finished 14-12 at home, have hit 26 home runs with 398 hits and 268 runs. The Cougars have 83 stolen bases to 64 for opponents. Noah Christenson leads USF in hitting at .353 and also has a .401 OBP and a .435 slugging along with a team-high 38 RBI and 60 hits.  Brady Klehr has a .340 average for second on the team and owns a team-best .532 slugging along with a .380 OBP to go with six home runs and 29 RBI. Tyler Cate is hitting .298 with a .389 OBP while Connor King has a .411 OBP to lead USF. On the hill, USF has a 5.93 earned run average with 329 strikeouts in 361.1 innings.  Caleb Ditmarson leads USF's starters with a 4-3 record and a 3.93 earned run average. He has a team-best 51 strikeouts. Alex Krout leads USF in earned run average at 2.73 and owns eight saves.