For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#33 Zach Hoffmann (1B, 6-1, 200, Sr., R/R, New Ulm / New Ulm HS) - St. Cloud State
- Sparked SCSU to a four-game sweep at Southwest Minnesota State
- Batted .706 with 12 hits, seven runs scored, two doubles, three homers, 10 RBI and 23 total bases
- Had 17 putouts, one assist and no errors in the four games played at first base
- In SCSU’s 21-0 win, charted four hits, three runs, two doubles, one homer and four RBI
- Had three hits, two runs, one homer and two RBI in SCSU’s 8-2 in over SMSU on April 4
- Capped the series in SCSU’s 24-13 win on April 4 with four hits, four RBI, two runs and one homer
- On the season, batting .420 with 34 hits, 22 runs, 28 RBI, eight doubles and four home runs

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#12 Kevin Bolder (LHP, 6-1, 160, So., L/L, Tomahawk, Wis. / Tomahawk HS) - St. Cloud State
- Put in a sterling relief performance in 8-4 win at SMSU
- Entered the game in the fourth inning and shutdown the Mustangs allowing just one hit and no runs in 4.0 innings of work
- Struck out 11 of the 14 batters he faced, issuing no walks to pick up the win
- Improves to 3-0 on the season with a 2.70 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 20.0 innings of work

Augustana
- Patrick O’Donnell batted .765 with 13 hits in 17 at bats, including four doubles and a home run in a series sweep over Minot State
- O’Donnell drove in seven runs and scored seven while boasting a 1.176 slugging percentage and a .765 on-base percentage
- Ryan Hamilton spun a gem in the series opener against Minot State on Saturday, tossing a complete-game two-hitter in an 11-1 win
- Hamilton struck out a career-high 12 batters and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning
- Hamilton got the first out of the seventh before Minot State was able to break through with a pair of hits
- Augustana returns to action Wednesday, April 6, hosting U-Mary in a doubleheader at Karras Park Home of Ronken Field at 3 p.m.
 
Bemidji State
- Bemidji State fell in the season series at Minnesota State after weather forced the original start time back one day
- After facing a 3-0 deficit heading into the sixth inning, the Beavers made a push back but fell in game one, 6-3
- BSU attempted a comeback from an 11-2 deficit in game two but again fell, 11-6
- Bemidji State opened scoring in game three with three first inning runs before Minnesota State scored the walk off RBI single in the ninth inning to win, 8-7
- Game four was a pitcher’s duel as neither team scored until another walk off win by MSU, 1-0
- Outfielder Scott Litchy led BSU in hitting with a .438 average and a .563 slugging percentage
- Starting pitcher Ryan Fransen led the starting rotation with one earned run allowed in his first complete game of the season
- Fransen finished with a .250 batting average against in 6.2 innings pitched
- Relief pitcher Logan Riedel led all BSU pitchers with a 0.00 ERA in 4.0 innings pitched
- Bemidji State travels to Northern State April 6 before hosting its home opener April 9-10 against Winona State

Concordia-St. Paul
- The Golden Bears are off to a 7-1 start to NSIC play for the first time since 2003 and just the second time under 17th-year head coach Mark “Lunch” McKenzie
- The 14-3 overall start matches McKenzie’s tenure best start through 17 games, tying the 2005 and 2009 seasons with the 2009 team starting 16-3
- Concordia topped U-Mary 3-1 in four games at Barnes Field as the starting rotation pitched into the seventh inning in all four games, compiling a combined 2.31 ERA in 27.1 innings
- Sophomore catcher Connor Olson led the offensive attack by hitting .467/.529/1.133 (1.662 OPS), going 7-15 with a double and three home runs while driving in five of Concordia’s team 15 RBI on the weekend
- Left handed starting pitchers Zach Rengel, Kody Knaus and Kevin Woebke each pitched 7.0 innings, allowing a combined two earned runs on 11 total hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts with Rengel throwing a complete game shutout in the series opener
- Concordia closes a 10-game home stand to start league play on Wednesday against Wayne State
- This weekend Concordia travels to Minnesota Crookston to open a 10-game road trip

U-Mary
- Jason Shaul posted a career-high five hits in a single game, finishing 5-for-5 with three RBIs, two doubles and a run scored in the Marauders lone win of the week, a 6-5 victory at Concordia-St. Paul
- In the four-game set at CSP, Shaul was 8-of-14 overall with two multi-hit games
- Through Monday’s games, Shaul ranks second in the nation in on base percentage (.606) and ninth in batting average (.462)
- Tom Imholte is third in the nation in both batting average (.528) and on base percentage (.591)
- Jake Johnson picked up his second straight win after allowing five runs in eight innings against CSP, giving up nine hits and two walks while striking out seven
- Johnson ranks tenth in the nation in WHIP (0.83), fourth in hits per nine innings (4.66) and 95th in ERA (2.48)
- After a midweek doubleheader at Augustana on Wednesday, the Marauders begin a 14-game Northern Sun home stand
   
Minnesota Crookston
- Minnesota Crookston picked up their second-straight series win in the NSIC with the series victory over Wayne State
- The Golden Eagles are now 6-1 in the NSIC and are currently third in the NSIC standings, behind only St. Cloud State and Augustana
- Minnesota Crookston is one win shy of tying their record mark of 14 wins from last season
- In two seasons, Steve Gust has led the Golden Eagles to 27 wins
- Prior to Gust’s arrival, UMC had just won two games in two seasons prior
- Ryan Haggstrom is ranked fifth in RBI and tied for sixth in runs scored this season in the NSIC
- Kenny Perez is tied for fourth in the NSIC with six home runs and tied for second in the NSIC with 26 RBI
- Ethan Mushitz leads the NSIC with 16 walks on the season
- Nolan Wahlberg is tied for the lead in the NSIC with five wins on the season and leads the NSIC wixh 43 innings pitched

Minnesota Duluth
- UMD split a four-game set with Winona State in NSIC competition in Winona, sweeping a Sunday doubleheader before being bested in two straight on Monday
- Senior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski hit three home runs and now sits just one shy of tying the Bulldog single season record of 15, established in 1990 by Jeff Kaldor and matched in 2003 by Tim Battaglia
- Senior second baseman Jimmy Heck led the Bulldogs with a .571/1.357/.647 slash line, scoring seven runs and driving in six
- Heck hit three home runs in the series opener against WSU, matching the UMD modern record
- Senior righty Austin Vaske and lefty Bo Hellquist each picked up a victory on the mound
- Vaske tossed 5.1 innings allowing three earned runs while striking out six
- Hellquist went 5.2 innings allowing four earned and striking out four

Minnesota State
- Overall the Mavericks sit at 14-8 on the year after their 4-0 performance against Bemidji State
- Junior Erick Peterson has reached base in all 22 games MSU has played this season while senior Kyle Toth reached base in Minnesota State’s first-21 games
- As a team, MSU is batting a solid .754 when runners are on third with less than two outs and .325 when runners are in scoring position
- The Mavericks are batting a combined .348 against left-handed pitchers vs. a .278 against right-handed pitchers
- Against opponents, the Maverick pitching staff is dealing a .240 batting average to left-handed batters while right-handed hitters are batting .298
- Eric Peterson ranks first in the conference with 12 HBP while junior Hunter Harnisch is tied for fourth with seven
- Minnesota State will play again on Wednesday, April 6, at No. 1 St. Cloud State in a double header at Joe Faber Field

Minot State
- Minot State dropped four games to Augustana this past weekend
- The Beavers hit a total of four homers in the second day doubleheader
- Celestino Rodriguez hit his sixth and seventh homerun of the season in the third game against the Vikings
- Minot State will play one game against NDSU April 6 before hosting Wayne State in a four-game series  

Northern State
- Northern State went 2-2 against Upper Iowa
- The Wolves move to fifth overall in the league with an 11-7 record overall and 4-2 mark in NSIC play
- NSU tallied 46 hits in the four-game set versus the Peacocks, led by senior Matt Stubbs going 7-for-14 at the plate
- Colton Boucher and Nick Hoffard earned wins for Northern throwing 6.1 and 5.2 innings respectively
- Senior Dillon Lee and redshirt freshman Luke Chevalier each tallied a save for the Wolves as well
- Northern struggled on defense giving up 13 errors total, and will look to clean things up as they return home for a 6-game stand
- The Wolves will face-off against Bemidji State and Augustana this Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday

Sioux Falls
- USF is 8-11 overall and 2-1 in league play
The Cougars are coming off a 2-1 trip to U-Mary as both teams opened NSIC play
- Matt Minnick, who had a team-best 12-game hitting streak end in the second game of the U-Mary series, is hitting .386 with three HRs and 14 RBI
- Dylan Gavin is one of two pitchers in the NSIC with a 4-0 record
- Zach Miller tossed his first career complete game at USF in a 5-1 win over U-Mary on March 25
- USF will face Minnesota Crookston at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday
- USF will head to Minnesota-Duluth this weekend

SMSU
- Jon Leighton batted .500 (6-for-12) with three home runs, two doubles and five runs scored in four losses to St. Cloud State on Sunday and Monday
- Leighton finished with 17 total bases and a 1.417 slugging percentage, while walking twice
- Leighton had seven putouts, one assist and no errors in the field
- Leighton leads SMSU with nine multi-RBI games and is also tied for the team lead with seven multi-hit games
- Leighton is batting a team-high .377 with eight doubles and 21 RBI

St. Cloud State
- St. Cloud State owns a perfect 21-0, 6-0 NSIC record this spring
- The Huskies recently gained a four-game sweep of NSIC rival Southwest Minnesota State on April 3-4 in Marshall, Minn.
- SCSU outscored SMSU by a 61-19 margin in the four games led by first baseball Zach Hoffmann, who batted .706 in the series with 12 hits, 7 runs, 10 RBI and 3 home runs
- The Huskies’ 21-game win streak this year is just two wins shy of SCSU’s team record 23-game win streak set at the start of the 2015 season
- SCSU will have a chance to equal that streak when it comes back to St. Cloud for the 2016 home opener at Joe Faber Field against Minnesota State on Wednesday
 
Upper Iowa
- Upper Iowa split a pair of NSIC double headers at home against Northern State despite outscoring the Wolves 40-23 in the four games
- NSU won the first game each day by scores of 5-3 and 5-4 as UIU comebacks ended with the winning run at the plate in the with two outs in the final inning of both contests
- UIU won the second game each day by dominating the late innings to end both games by the NSIC’s run rule 19-9 and 14-4
- Luis Ravelo led the team with 7 hits including a pair of homeruns and three walks while driving in six runners and scoring 6 times himself; his three-run homer gave UIU a 9-7 lead on Sunday in game two
- Mitch Moser threw a complete game to improve to 4-0 in Monday’s victory allowing 4 runs to the Wolves on 11 hits
- Collin Thomas came on in relief to earn the win on Sunday
- Zach Cain went 6-8 with two starts at first base and Jake Greco recorded 5 hits
- UIU’s non-conference, double header at Minnesota Duluth this Wednesday has been cancelled due to predicted weather
- The team will now return to the diamond in St. Cloud, Minn. on Saturday and Sunday to square off against the #1 Huskies in a four-game set

Wayne State
- WSC was 1-3 in a home series vs. Minnesota Crookston
- Senior first baseman Albert Johnson hit team-high .500 during the week going 10 for 20 at the plate
- Junior third baseman Cody Jenkins hit .476 going 10 for 21 at the plate
- Senior right fielder Nate Ackerman hit .429 (6-14) with two homers, five RBI and nine runs scored
- Junior leftfielder/catcher Bodie Cooper had two homers and team-high eight RBI
- WSC visits Concordia-St. Paul Wednesday and plays at Minot State Saturday and Sunday

 Winona State
- WSU split a four-game home series with UMD, falling 13-7 and 14-8 Sunday before rebounding for 14-3 and 13-4 wins Monday
- Mitch Voter batted .600 with nine hits, a double, two home runs and 12 RBI with a 1.067 slugging percentage along with a save
- Jay Voter pitched a seven-inning complete game with three hits and one earned run with five strikeouts in the 14-3 win over UMD
- WSU (5-15, 2-5 NSIC) opens a 12-game road swing with a doubleheader at SMSU Wednesday


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)
4/5/16
Player: Zach Hoffmann - SCSU
Pitcher: Kevin Bolder - SCSU