For Immediate Release
Monday, March 30, 2016
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#35 Alex Wojciechowski (1B, 6-5, 230, Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn. / Coon Rapids HS) - Minnesota Duluth
- Started off the NSIC season with hits in four straight games against Minnesota State, hitting .526 while slugging 1.222 in the four-game set, getting on-base 11-of-19 trips to the plate
- Led UMD to a 3-1 series win by hitting three home runs and three doubles, driving in nine, scoring four runs and one stolen base
- Capped off the series with a career game, hitting 5-of-6 with three home runs, eight runs batted in, four runs scored, and a double in the nightcap Tuesday against the Mavericks
- Had a double in three-straight games to end the series, walking once and landing multiple hits in the last three games against MSU
- Marks the second time this season he has been named NSIC Player of the Week (2/23/16)

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#16 Sheldon Miks (LHP, 6-4, 210, So., L/L, Shakopee, Minn. / Shakopee HS) - St. Cloud State
- Crafted a 5-0 shutout win over Wayne State on March 28 in Yankton, S.D.
- Allowed only four hits and had 10 strikeouts in the victory
- Pitched eight innings in the game and allowed no walks
- Improved to 5-0 on the season for the Huskies
- This marks the second time this season he has been named NSIC Pitcher of the Week (2/16/16)

Augustana
- Augustana played just one game this past week, defeating USF a home, 9-6
- The Vikings trailed entering the 8th inning and scored 5 runs to take the lead
- Augustana will host U-Mary for doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday
 
Bemidji State
- Bemidji State was swept in its NSIC opening four-game series against CSP
- The Beavers scored first in every game and finished hitting .311 from the plate
- The base paths were open for BSU, as the team stole four bases on five attempts and conversely shut CSP out of stolen bases on two attempts
- Outfielder Logan Riedel’s third triple of the season put Bemidji State back in a tie for the NSIC lead in three-baggers with 11
- Outfielder Tyler Nelson extended his hit streak to 18 games, the second longest for the program since 1998
- Nelson is tied for the NSIC lead in triples with four, while Riedel and outfielder Scott Litchy are tied for third with three
- Catcher Gunner Olszewski hit his first two career home runs in three games played, a three-run shot and a solo homer, and finished with six RBI
- Relief pitcher Nate Heisick continued as the top relief option for BSU, finishing two appearances with a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 innings pitched
- Heisick recorded three strike outs and an opposing batting average of .286
- Starting pitchers Jack Stigman and Ryan Fransen threw quality games, going 5.0 and 6.1 innings, respectively. Stigman totaled six strike outs, three hits allowed and an opposing batting average of .167. Fransen totaled three strike outs and an opposing batting average of .190
- Bemidji State continues NSIC action April 2-3 at Minnesota State with a four-game series

Concordia-St. Paul
- CSP hit 13 home runs and came from behind in all four games in a series sweep of Bemidji State, the second year in a row opening with a 4-game series sweep
- The team’s 11-2 start ties the program record in Mark McKenzie’s 17 seasons
- The Golden Bears set the tone for the series in the first game, hitting five home runs and scoring nine runs in the third inning to overcome an early 7-1 deficit on their way to a 10-8 win
- Six different players combined to hit the 13 home runs led by Tanner Holmquist with four and Connor Olson and Ben Suits with three each while three others went deep once
- Olson (7th) and Suits (8th) each hit go-ahead homers in the second and fourth games with identical 4-3 victories
- Concordia’s bullpen allowed two runs (one earned) in 14.0 innings in the series, recording three wins and three saves
- This weekend, Concordia hosts U-Mary for four games on Saturday and Sunday at Barnes Field
- Concordia is 22-3 against the Marauders dating back to 2007 with 19 consecutive victories although seven have been by three runs or less

U-Mary
- Marauders went 1-3 last week, including a 1-2 mark against Sioux Falls in the NSIC opening weekend
- U-Mary pitchers combined to strike out 12 and allow no earned runs, no walks and four hits in a 3-2 loss to Dickinson State
- Jake Johnson struck out a career-high nine hitters and earned the win in the Marauders 15-5 win over the Cougars. He gave up four hits, two walks and two earned runs in six innings
- Johnson is first in the nation in fewest hits allowed/nine innings (2.57), second in WHIP (0.62) and 20th in ERA (1.29)
- Tom Imholte is hitting .536 with a .611 on base percentage and a .679 slugging percentage, all team highs
- Jason Shaul has a slash line of .409 / .587 / .614. He is 5th in the nation in OBP and 88th in batting average
- Seth Meide hit a grand slam and drove in five runs in the Marauders 15-5 win over USF
- Mason Schiff recorded a .733 on base percentage last week as he was 5-of-9 at the plate, walked five times, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored four runs.
- The Marauders next play at Concordia-St. Paul on April 2-3
 
Minnesota Crookston
- The Golden Eagles are off to their best start in program history as they are currently 10-7
- UMC has reached 10 wins for the second-consecutive season and this is the quickest they have ever reached 10 wins
- The Golden Eagles are hitting .300 as a team this season with 124 runs scored, 29 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 104 RBI
- UMC is led by freshman Reed Hjelle, who is hitting .387 on the year with 14 runs, six doubles, one triple, three home runs and 12 RBI
- Jarad Nelson leads the way with a 3.86 ERA, while Trevor Buttermore is 1-0 with 4.07 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched
- UMC picked up their first sweep of an NSIC team in a series of over two games for the first time in program history

Minnesota Duluth
- UMD took 3-of-4 in its NSIC opening series against Minnesota State, sweeping a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon following the completion of the teams’ Monday evening game that had been halted due to darkness
- Senior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski led the Bulldog offensive attack, hitting .526 (10-of-19) with three home runs, three doubles, nine runs batted in and four runs scored
- The UMD bullpen produced nearly spotless results with seven pitchers combining for 8.1 innings of 0.00 ERA ball
- Sophomore lefty Tommy Hanson (2.1) and right-hander Nick Dorfman (2.0) each produced multiple innings
- UMD got 5.2 innings out of each of its four starters in the series, with senior lefty Bo Hellquist striking out 10 in his win Monday afternoon while senior righty Austin Vaske allowed just three hits and four walks in a no-decision
- The Bulldogs take on Winona State this weekend
- The Warriors own a 75-43 all-time record against UMD but the Bulldogs took 3-of-4 in the series last year in Duluth

Minnesota State
- MSU the wrapped up their first NSIC series of the season at home against Minnesota Duluth on March 28-29
- The Bulldogs took three of four from the Mavericks, splitting the first two games before sweeping the final two
- Overall the Mavericks sit at 10-8 on the year after their 1-3 performance against Minnesota-Duluth
- Junior Eric Peterson is leading or is tied for the lead in seven different categories (Batting Average-.361, Slugging%-.492, On Base%-.518, Runs-23, Walks-10, HBP-11, Sac Bunts-3)
- As a team, MSU is batting a solid .737 when runners are on third with less than two outs and .327 when runners are in scoring position
- Against opponents, the Maverick pitching staff is dealing a .230 batting average to left-handed batters and .307 to righties.
- The last time Minnesota State lost two games in a row at home was in the 2011 NSIC Tournament where the Mavericks last to Minnesota Duluth on May 11, 5-0 and then to St. Cloud State on May 12, 2-1
- Minnesota State will play again this Friday and Saturday, April 4-5 against Bemidji State at home in pair of double headers at the MSU Baseball Complex

Minot State
- Minot State won one of four games in its conference opener at Upper Iowa
- Austin Berntson struck out 10 batters while allowing just three hits and no earned runs in the lone win
- Jordan Schulz recorded seven hits, four RBIs and two stolen bases on the weekend
- Celestino Rodriguez hit his fifth homerun of the season as the Beavers have totaled 16 as a team
- Minot State will travel to Augustana next weekend for a four-game series beginning Friday

Northern State
- Northern State swept Southwest Minnesota State in the NSIC opener with scores of 3-0 and 5-3
- NSU is now 9-5 overall and 2-0 in the Northern Sun
- The two teams were unable to play Monday due to wet field conditions and ultimately cancelled the games
- Colton Boucher and Marcus Manderbach tallied the wins for the Wolves on the hill, while senior Dillon Lee notched his first save of the season
- The Wolves notched ten hits in the two games, however played 16 innings of errorless defense to secure the two victories
- Northern will travel to Upper Iowa this weekend for a set of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday

Sioux Falls
- The Cougars are coming off a 2-1 trip to Mary as both teams opened NSIC play
- The series was originally scheduled to be played in Sioux Falls but weather forced the games to be moved to Bismarck
- Weather persisted and the final of the four-game set was cancelled due to snow
- Zachary Miller was 1-0 with a complete game five hitter as USF defeated Mary, 5-1
- Rob Johnson hit .455 with five hits in 11 at bats, a double, two RBI and six total bases
- USF will face Minnesota Crookston on Wed., April 6 in Crookston, Minnesota

SMSU
- Sophomore pitcher Alex Jorgensen tossed his first career complete game in a 3-0 loss to Northern State on Tuesday
- Jorgensen allowed just three hits and one earned run in seven innings
- Jorgensen recorded a career-high eight strikeouts
- Jorgensen has recorded 15 combined strikeouts in his last two starts
- SMSU continues its homestand this weekend taking on No. 1 St. Cloud State in a four-game series at Alumni Field

St. Cloud State
- The Huskies own a 17-0, 2-0 NSIC record in 2016
- The defending NSIC regular season champions and the 2015 NSIC tournament champs, SCSU opened its 2016 NSIC schedule with a 3-0 and 5-0 sweep of Wayne State on March 28
- Sheldon Miks crafted a 5-0 shutout win over Wayne State on March 28
- Miks allowed only four hits and had 10 strikeouts in the victory
- Kyle Lieser, in the 3-0 win vs. WSC, had a double and one run for the Huskies
- In the 5-0 win vs. WSC, Lieser added two hits, two RBIs and one stolen base for SCSU
- He also had two putouts and three assists in the win
- SMSU travels to SMSU this weekend
 
Upper Iowa
- Upper Iowa won three of four against Minot State in Fayette on Friday and Saturday; the Peacocks dropped game one, 10-2, but won the final three 14-4 (7), 6-5 and 9-5 to improve to 7-8 overall and 3-1 in the NSIC
- The Peacocks got wins from starters Tyus Adkins (CG, 7 Inn., 4 ER, 5 K’s) and Mitch Moser (7.1 Inn., 4 ER, 7 K’s) and reliever Brandon Nicholson (3 Inn., 0 ER, 1 K)
- Moser led the team in hits with 6 for the weekend including two doubles and a triple, while seven other Peacocks had three hits apiece
- Colton Janssen, Eric Cottrell and Luis Ravelo all homered, while Ravelo and Moser posted the team’s two triples and the team notched seven doubles
- Minot State outhit their hosts 38-31, but timing was everything as Upper Iowa made the most of their 12 extra base hits to slug .459 and outscore the Beavers 31-24 in the four games
- The Peacocks will host a four-game series against Northern State on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 2-3, at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette
 
Wayne State
- Wayne State fell 3-0 and 5-0 to St. Cloud State
- WSC had four hits in game two with Albert Johnson recording a double
- The Wildcats are scheduled to host Minnesota Crookston on Saturday and Sunday starting at noon each day at the Pete Chapman Baseball Complex.

 Winona State
- WSU dropped a three-game series to UMC in home games moved to Crookston, Minn.
- Jesus Cazares and Ryan Nyhagen batted .364 with 2 RBI each, while Tyler Nehring had a home run and 5 RBI
- WSU rallied from a 7-0 deficit to tie UMC 7-7 in the lone game Saturday but fell 8-7 in extras
- WSU (3-13, 0-3 NSIC) hosts Minnesota Duluth for a pair of doubleheaders at noon on Saturday and Sunday at Loughrey Field



NSIC Players of the Week
2/16/16
Player: Brandon Arnold - SCSU
Pitcher: Sheldon Miks - SCSU
2/23/16
Player: Alex Wojciechowski - UMD
Pitcher: Brett Fanning - UIU
3/1/16
Player: Cody Jenkins - WSC
Pitcher: Reese Gregory - SCSU
3/7/16
Player: Connor Olson - CSP
Pitcher: Jake Johnson - U-Mary
3/14/16
Player: Matt Stubbs - NSU
Pitcher: Kody Knaus - CSP
3/22/16
Player: Lucas Lorenz - NSU
Pitcher: Trevor Buttermore - UMC
3/30/16
Player: Alex Wojciechowski - UMD  (2)
Pitcher: Sheldon Miks - SCSU (2)