SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Despite a 16-hit attack, the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team (25-26) dropped a 10-8 decision to St. Cloud State (37-11) in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Baseball Tournament at Ronken Field on Wednesday night.
The Cougars will now face Minnesota Duluth (22-24) on Thursday at 12:30 pm at First National Bank Field. The Cougars were vying for their first win in the NSIC Tourney but with the setback sit 0-5 in three appearances.
USF's offense had a big game for the Cougars, jumping to an 8-1 lead before SCSU rallied. USF was led by
Noah Christenson, who had three hits and an RBI. Seven players for USF had two hits in the game.
Connor King, who made a dazzling play at the fence on defense, had two hits with two runs and two RBI.
Ben Series had two hits and two runs and was intentionally walked.
Brady Klehr had three RBI with his two hits.
Trey Hubers had two hits as did
Grant Lung, who both scored a run. Another USF senior
Kyle Gulbrandson had two hits and an RBI.
After USF trailed 1-0, they tied the game in the second inning and added two runs in the fourth inning before added two more in the seventh frame and three in the eighth inning. St. Cloud State rallied with four runs in the eighth inning and five in the ninth inning.
Sam Riola led SCSU with four hits, three runs and seven RBI. His three run home run in the ninth inning was the difference.
Senior
Alex Krout (0-4) took the loss for USF as he allowed five runs on five hits. Junior
Caleb Ditmarson had a solid start as he allowed eight hits and a run with a strikeout in throwing 97 pitches across 5 2/3 innings. Senior
Andrew Maslowski worked two innings and allowed five hits and four runs in two innings. He recorded two strikeouts.
Zachary Shastay also threw for USF.
SCSU used four pitchers including Trevor Koenig who started and worked four innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. Nick Brauns earned the win as he worked one inning (9
th inning) and allowed one hits with a walk and a strikeout.
