For Immediate Release
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#1 Brandon Arnold (IF/OF, 5-11, 173, Sr., R/R, Chaska, Minn. / Chanhassen HS) - St. Cloud State
- Batted .750 in two games played at the Houston Winter Classic
- Capped his week with six hits, two doubles and one homer as SCSU went 3-0
- Scored four runs, had six RBI and 11 total bases in his two games played
- Helped the Huskies gain a 14-10 win over nationally ranked St. Mary’s (TX) and a 12-3 win over Tarleton State
- Added three runs, four hits and three RBI in the victory over St. Mary’s
- Finished his weekend with one run, two hits and three RBI in play against Tarleton State

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#16 Sheldon Miks (LHP, 6-4, 210, So., L/L, Shakopee, Minn. / Shakopee HS) - St. Cloud State
- Crafted a brilliant three hit complete game victory over Central Missouri on Feb. 7
- Allowed just one earned run in the 2-1 victory played at the Houston Winter Classic  
- In the nine-inning effort, Miks posted 12 strikeouts with a 1.00 ERA

Augustana
- Opens season February 20-21 at Lindenwood

Bemidji State
- Bemidji State was swept in a four-game series at No. 24 Missouri Southern State to open the season
- The Beavers allowed one run in game one of their season-opening doubleheader
- BSU fell in the following three games 15-3, 14-6 and 14-2
- Junior pitcher Terry Hadden went 7.2 innings with 6 strikeouts while allowing one earned run and two hits in the season-opener
- Senior Joey Hanowski went 7-of-17 while scoring four runs over the weekend He hit one double while batting .412 with an on-base percentage of .444
- BSU returns to action March 4-6 while traveling to Truman State University and William Jewell

Concordia-St. Paul
- Opens season March 3-6 in Tucson, Arizona

University of Mary
- Opens season February 26 to March 4 in Winter Haven, Florida

Minnesota, Crookston
- Opens season February 27-28 at Missouri S&T

Minnesota Duluth
- UMD will officially open the 2016 campaign this weekend on the road, taking on Pittsburg State in a four-game series with big regional implications
- UMD returns NSIC Preseason Player of the Year senior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski and fellow preseason All-American senior second baseman Jimmy Heck, NSIC All-Tournament Team selection senior left-hander Bo Hellquist, and ABCA All-Central Region honoree Grant Farley
- UMD has nine in-region contests on the non-conference schedule, and will knock out four this weekend

Minnesota State
- MSU opened up the season with a three-game sweep of Arkansas-Monticello
- In the first game of the double header on Friday, Minnesota State tacked on two runs in the top of the ninth inning to secure a 3-2 victory with sophomore Luke Waldek and senior Hunter Harnisch collecting two hits apiece including a double for Waldek and two RBI for Harnisch
- Relief pitcher Josh Matheson picked up the win with three innings of work, giving up one earned run
- In game two, Brody Rodning threw all seven innings, picking up the 3-1 win with 11 strikeouts and one earned run on five Weevil hits
- Taylor Branstad led the offense going 3-2 with a triple while Josh Wenzel batted in two runs with a double
- In game three, on Saturday, both team’s offenses came to play as the Mavericks captured the win scoring 12 runs to the Weevils 11
- Branstad won the game for MSU, belting a homer in the top of the 10th to lead off the inning
- Reliever Dakota Belter picked up the win after shutting down UAM in the bottom half
- Branstad led the Mavericks going 3-4 in game three, batting in two runs and scoring four
- Minnesota State is now 3-0 on the season and will play next on March 3rd when they head south to Daytona Beach
- The Mavericks will play 10 games in the span of eight days from March 3-10

Minot State
- Minot State went 0-4 on the weekend after traveling to the College of Idaho
- Jordan Shulz recorded five hits, five runs, two RBIs and one homerun
- Celestino Rodriguez had three extra-base hits with a homerun and two doubles
- Starting pitcher Lane Biggs struck out seven batters in 5.1 innings pitched
- Minot State will compete again on February 19 and 20 with three games against St. Martin’s and one against Dixie State

Northern State
- Opens season March 7-18 in Tucson, Arizona

Sioux Falls
- Sioux Falls recorded a 2-2 record in games played against Pittsburg State on Feb. 6-7 in Pittsburg, Kansas
- The Cougars lost 6-4 and 4-3 on Saturday before recording 16-13 and 12-9 victories on Sunday
- In the sweep Sunday, USF had 28 runs on 33 hits and hit .431
- In 16-13 win, USF’s Matthew Minnick had his 6th career 4-hit game and 18th multi-hit game of his career
- He had two doubles and a HR along with 3 RBI in the win
- In a 16-13 win, USF scored 10 runs in the second inning, which is the most since putting up 11 in a loss to Concordia, Calif., on March 17, 2015
- Trevor Crow had a four-hit game, adding a steal of home and four runs scored, in the 12-9 win over Pitt State
- USF is hitting .346 on the season with 32 runs, 43 hits, eight doubles and two HRs. USF has a .433 OBP and .519 slugging pct
- In four games, USF has recorded 8 steals in 11 attempts and allowed just 1 steal in three attempts
- Next for USF will be games Feb. 20-21 against Oklahoma Panhandle State in Goodwill, Oklahoma

Southwest Minnesota State
- Opens season February 27-28 at Newman University (Kansas)

St. Cloud State
- The Huskies opened their season with a three-game sweep at the Houston Winter Classic on Feb. 5-7
- SCSU started with a 14-10 win over St. Mary’s on Feb. 5 and continued with a 12-3 win over Tarleton State on Feb. 6 and a 2-1 win over Central Missouri on Feb. 7
- All games in the tournament were played at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas
- The Huskies outhit their opponents 37-21 and outscored their opponents 28-14 in the three games down south
- Brandon Arnold led SCSU with a .750 batting average and six hits.  Teammate Karl Sorensen also had six hits and batted .429 in the trip
- Sheldon Miks was stellar with a three-hit complete game victory over perennial DII powerhouse Central Missouri on Feb. 7
- SCSU’s Reese Gregory and Ryan Diers also notched victories for the Huskies on the trip to Houston
- SCSU will be idle now until its Tucson trip on March 7-15

Upper Iowa
- The Peacocks are scheduled to open their 2016 campaign this Saturday and Sunday in Memphis, Tenn. against LeMoyne-Owen College
- Upper Iowa went 3-1 at LeMoyne-Owen in 2014 and had three games canceled with the Magicians last year due to weather
- Following the trip to Memphis, the Peacocks will head to Clearwater, Fla. for eight games over spring break from Mar. 6-12
- Upon returning to Fayette, UIU will kickoff a 12-game homestand including four non-conference games against Northern Sun foes Bemidji State and Concordia-St. Paul and then open NSIC play with four-game series with Minot State and Northern State

Wayne State
 - Wayne State opens the season on Saturday, February 20 and Sunday, February 21 playing at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas

Winona State
- WSU opened its season with a 3-game series against Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo.
- The Warriors dropped the opening game of a doubleheader 9-3, then responded with a 9-4 win in the nightcap before dropping the rubber match 7-6
- Jesus Cazares led the Warriors with six hits, while Tyler Nehring and Paul Mutch each had 3 RBI
- Hayden Krimmer earned the win on the mound for WSU
- WSU returns to action on Feb. 26-28 in St. Louis, Missoui taking on Maryville, Drury and Grand Valley State

NSIC Players of the Week
2/16/16
Player: Brandon Arnold - SCSU
Pitcher: Sheldon Miks - SCSU