BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team, which tied the program-high for wins a year ago, has been picked to finish 10th in the 2022 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Cougars, which finished 21-21 overall and 16-19 in the NSIC for eighth place, will look to make continued improvement with direction from sixth-year Head Coach Grant Hieb. USF earned 73 points in the coaches preseason poll. USF, which advanced to the NSIC Postseason Tourney for the second time in school history a year ago, will look to improve on its 10th place projection in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.

The reigning NSIC Regular Season and Tournament Champions of Minnesota State University, Mankato was the top pick in the 2022 NSIC Preseason Baseball Coaches' Poll. The Mavericks totaled 190 points after receiving nine first place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team). Augustana was second with 188 points and the other six first place votes. The preseason coaches' poll is based off each coach ranking each team from 14 to 1 with the top team receiving 14 points, second 13, third 12, etc.

PREVIEW | 2022 - The Cougars are coming off their best season at the DII level with a 21-21 overall record and a 16-19 conference record, which placed eighth. USF, which tied the 2016 squad for most wins at the DII level, will be led by senior "Players to Watch" Grant Lung, a shortstop from Peoria, Ariz., and Matt Graham, a right-handed pitcher from Sioux Falls, S.D.

"I'm looking forward to this upcoming season as we return a majority of our key players from last year's team. My goal is to build on last year's success as we earned a bid in the conference tournament for the first time in my five years as the Head Coach. We'll look to be a scrappy team that will put pressure on defenses and rely on pitching and defense to win ballgames," said USF Head Baseball Coach Grant Hieb.

In total, the Cougars return nine seniors along with seven starters. Lung (.290, .421 slugging, .383 OBP, 11 SB, 4 HRs, 38 RBI, 95 assists), a three-year team captain at shortstop, will anchor the infield with the Tyler Cate (41 starts, .354 avg., 35 runs, 25 RBI, .438 slugging, .443 OBP, 15 SB, .949 fielding and .429 avg with runners in scoring position). Lung has a .267 career batting average with 137 hits, 91 RBI and 38 extra base hits, including 26 doubles and eight home runs. In 148 career starts, has 37 multi-hit games and 22 multi-RBI games. 

In the outfield, USF returns Conner King, who was the only NSIC player named to the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team. Aside from being the league's top defender in center field, King, who was named to the NSIC All Defensive Team, is the school's first-ever to earn the honor as he had 93 putouts, six assists and no errors (.293 avg, 41 runs, 43 hits,.395 slugging, .450 OBP, 14 steals, 1.000 fielding). Also back will be outfielder Trey Huber (.308 avg., 19 RBI, .410 slugging, .419 OBP), among several others along with a group of talented newcomers.

On the mound, USF returns several key members of the pitching staff – Graham, Alex Krout (5-2, 4.35 era, 39.1 inn., 14 app, 3 starts, 5 saves); Andrew Maslowski (5-4, 4.70 era, 51.2 inn., 9 starts, 2 CG); and Cole Schumacher (1-3, 3.62 era, four starts, 2 CG, .210 avg) along with several other veteran returnees and newcomers. Graham owns a 7-10 career record with a 3-3 mark and 4.88 earned run average in 2021. A two-time team captain, he had nine starts, three complete games, shutout and limited opponents to a .201 average. He has 86 strikeouts in 140 innings with 27 starts and 42 appearances in his career. 

USF opens the season with four games against Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo., and later host Minnesota Crookston on March 19-20 in a three-game slate to open the NSIC season.

The baseball non-conference season gets underway in early February with NSIC play beginning on March 19. The 2022 NSIC Baseball Tournament will take the top eight teams in the final NSIC Standings. The eight-team double elimination NSIC Tournament takes place May 11-14 co-hosted by Augustana and the University of Sioux Falls. The tournament will be played at Karras Park (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Aspen Park (Brandon, S.D.).