For Immediate Release
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#11 Aaron Krier (INF, 5-11, 190, Jr., R/R, Aurelia, Iowa / Storm Lake HS) - Wayne State
- Hit .652 for the week going 15-for-23 in six games with two homers and 12 RBI
- Scored nine runs in six games and had 1.087 slugging percentage with four multi-hit games
- Was 4-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and three runs scored in 15-14 win over SMSU Saturday
- Went 4-for-5 with a homer, a double, two RBI and four runs scored in 10-6 win over SMSU Saturday
- In the four-game SMSU series, recorded 12 RBI going 11-for-14 with eight runs scored
- Was 3-for-4 with a double and a RBI in 5-1 loss to Sioux Falls Tuesday

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#10 Dalton Roach (RHP, 6-2, 200, So., R/R, Eau Claire, Wis. / Memorial HS) - Minnesota State
- Claimed his fourth win of season after a 10-0 victory over Northern State last Thursday
- Threw his second complete-game shutout of the season after going seven innings allowing just four hits
- Collected a career-high 13 strikeouts, allowing just two walk to the 27 batters faced
- Ranks second on the team with 60 Ks and a 3.06 ERA in 2016

NSIC Team Notes
Augustana
- The Vikings went 4-2 last weekend against Minnesota Crookston and Upper Iowa
- Fink became Augustana’s all-time hits leader against Upper Iowa with his 270th career hit as he now has 271 in his career
- Fink also broke the single season doubles record against Upper Iowa when he hit his 29th double of the season
- Fink is now the all-time leader in hits, RBI, doubles and season doubles
Alex Fink currently ranks #1 in all of NCAA baseball, all three divisions, in doubles this season with 29
- As a team they hit .405 with 62 RBIs, 8 home runs, 21 doubles and 94 hits
- They earned 20 walks and were 7-of-8 in stolen bases
- The Vikings trailed Upper Iowa by a run in game two Sunday when Patrick O’Donnell tied the game with a lead off home run. One batter latter senior Patrick Fiala walks it off with a home run on senior day
 
Bemidji State
- Bemidji State split its final full week of action at home versus No. 2 St. Cloud State and at U-Mary
- The Beavers fell, 4-2 and 11-2, to the Huskies before taking 3-of-4 against the Marauders; 7-1, 8-0, 6-0 and 8-5
- Starting pitchers Terry Hadden, Jack Stigman and Mark Lesinski each threw complete game wins over the first three games at U-Mary
- Lesinski finished Sunday’s game three tying a career-high nine strikeouts and allowed four hits, his fewest total in a game with at least three innings pitched
- Stigman struck out five and allowed four hits, none coming as extra-base hits, in nine innings of work in game two versus the Marauders
- Outfielder Tyler Nelson extended the program’s single-season hit record to 86 while leading the Beavers with 10 hits and a .435 batting average over the week’s games
- Infielder Joey Hanowski extended his on-base streak to 23 games, tying the team high for the season, with nine walks drawn and pushed his career program hit record to 202
- Bemidji State hosts Southwest Minnesota State for a doubleheader Wednesday at BSU Baseball Field for its final regular season games of 2016

Concordia-St. Paul
- Concordia went 4-2 on the week, sweeping SMSU on Tuesday before a weekend split with Sioux Falls
- Concordia’s pitching staff compiled a 1.32 ERA in 47.2 innings, striking out 45 and limiting opposing bats to a .188 average along with a 1.07 WHIP, and just three of 32 hits allowed were for extra bases (1 2B, 2 HR)
- Kody Knaus led the staff with a complete game shutout (7.0 IP) while Kevin Woebke backed him up by working 7.0 innings and allowing only two unearned runs, with Gus Varland adding 7.0 scoreless with nine strikeouts in an extra inning loss
- Connor Olson hit a pair of doubles and a home run to give him 14 doubles and 12 home runs on the year, all 12 home runs in NSIC play to rank fourth in the NSIC
- Concordia closes the regular season on Friday and Saturday at Winona State, holding a 27-37 all-time record against WSU including a 14-19 road record

U-Mary
- Six Marauders seniors were honored during Sunday’s doubleheader
- Playing their final season in the Blue & Orange are Sean Hennen, McKeon Meyhoff, Evan Morehead, Mason Schiff, Jason Shaul and Zach Steckler
- All six seniors appeared in the Marauders 6-0 loss to UMC on Sunday. Schiff, Hennen and Shaul were a combined 3-for-9 at the plate. Meyhoff, Morehead  and Steckler pitched all seven innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out seven
- Mason Schiff finished 4-for-6 with a double, triple, and three RBI and a 8-5 win over BSU the senior shortstop was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI
- For the week Schiff was 7-for-18 in six games, hitting a double, triple and home run while scoring three times and driving home five. He hit .389 with a .722 slugging percentage
- Brad Meyer earned his second win of the season after allowing two earned runs in the 8-5 won over BSU. He scattered eight hits and five walks over seven innings, striking out three
- Will Pettener had four hits in the second game at Minot State, a career-high. It was the fourth time this season a U-Mary player has had four or more hits in a game this season and just the 26th time during the Marauders NCAA era (beginning 2007)

Minnesota Crookston
- The Golden Eagles come into the final week of the regular-season in fourth place with a 16-7 mark overall. Minnesota Crookston is just one win from clinching their first NSIC playoff berth since 2001
- UMC is coming off a strong week, as they defeated Augustana and forced them out of first place
- The Golden Eagles will head to Minot State on Wednesday and then wrap up at home at the UMC Baseball Field against Northern State Friday and Saturday
- UMC continues an amazing turnaround as they have now won 23 games on the season. They have set program-bests for overall wins and conference wins
- The Golden Eagle bats are led by Reed Hjelle, who is hitting .380 with 32 runs scored and 28 RBI
- On the mound, UMC look to Nolan Wahlberg, who is 8-1 with a 4.24 ERA.
- Zach Seipel leads all NSIC pitchers in saves with 10 as a freshman. Seipel is 2-1 with a 4.80 ERA on the season

Minnesota Duluth
- UMD extended its program-record winning streak to 18 games, going 6-0 on the week with series sweeps of Upper Iowa and Minot State
- Senior third baseman Kyle Comer hit .480 on the week, slugging 1.240 with five home runs and four doubles, driving in 18 runs and score 11 times. The Bulldogs hit 16 home runs on the week with five different players contributing multiple big flies across the six NSIC contests.
- Senior first baseman Alex Wojciechowski followed up an NSIC Player of the Week performance with a 10-for-23 week, driving in 12 and scoring 11 times with a pair of home runs
- Senior second baseman Jimmy Heck had two homers and 12 RBIs while hitting .542 on the week.
- Senior left-hander Spencer Diedrich’s one-hit, zero-earned run complete game effort against Upper Iowa highlighted the pitching performances on the week
- Junior lefty Kevin Stocke tossed 6.0 innings without allowing an earned run against Minot State, striking out six.
- Sophomore lefty Tommy Hanson struck out 12 batters while going 2-0 on the week over 7.1 innings
- Senior righty Austin Vaske struck out 11 Beavers in 6.1 innigns of work against Minto State
- The Bulldogs will match up with St. Cloud State in a showdown series on Wednesday between the top two offensive teams in the nation

Minnesota State
- Mavericks move to 27-14 (18-9 NSIC) after going 5-1 last week splitting with Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D., before sweeping Winona State to wrap up their road schedule for 2016
- Sophomore Brody Rodning now leads the conference with 67 strikeouts this season while fellow sophomore Dalton Roach ranks third with 60
- Minnesota State hit 20 home runs over the last 12 games as a team
- The Mavericks are now 17-4 when hitting a homer and 10-10 when they do not
- The Mavericks have a 22-4 record when they are leading after six, a 7-1 record when leading after seven, and a 7-1 record when leading after eight
- Minnesota State is 20-7 on the season when they score first as opposed to 7-7 when their opposition scores first
- The Mavericks close out the regular season with six games this week as they host Wayne State for a double header on May 4 at the MSU Baseball Complex, and the University of Sioux Fall this coming weekend, May 7-8, for a four-game series

Minot State
- The Beavers won two games against Mary and lost four against Minnesota Duluth this past week
- MISU is now 9-3 against its in-state rivals since joining the Division II ranks
- Michael Borst hit his first home run against Mary on Wednesday and went on to hit four more in the UMD series
- Jordan Schulz recorded at least one run in all six games to increase his total to 39
- Minot State will play its final six games at home with a Wednesday series against Minnesota Crookston and a Friday/Saturday series against St. Cloud State

Northern State
- The Northern State University baseball team went 3-3 on the week with splits against Minnesota State and No. 2 St. Cloud State, improving to 17-20 overall and 10-14 in the NSIC
- Northern currently sits tenth in the league and will fight for a spot in the NSIC Tournament with just six games remaining versus the University of Mary and Minnesota Crookston
- Junior right-hander Nick Hoffard picked up two wins for the Wolves on the week throwing 14.1 innings and giving up just two earned runs versus the Mavericks
- Jack Schmidt led the NSU offense going 8-for-20 at the plate with five walks and three runs scored. The sophomore continues to lead the team hitting .455 this season with 65 hits and 36 RBI
- Senior Cody Vandever tallied the team’s second victory of the week in a 12-5 defeat of St. Cloud State. Vandever threw 6.1 innings giving up four earned runs and ten hits.
- Luke Chevalier racked in his second and third saves of the season, hitting the mound for 3.2 innings of work. Chevalier gave up just three hits and struck out three without suffering a run scored
- The Wolves close out the home season on Wednesday versus the Marauders and travel to close out the regular season versus the Golden Eagles on Friday and Saturday

Sioux Falls
- With six games to play, Sioux Falls (19-24, 12-14-1 NSIC, 8th) will be in a fight to the finish for a league postseason tourney berth as they face city rival Augustana (31-12, 22-5 NSIC, 2nd) at Harmodon Park on Wednesday before traveling for four games at Minnesota State (26-14, 17-9, NSIC) this weekend
- USF recorded back-to-back walk off wins on Sunday to finish the weekend 2-2 against Concordia St. Paul
- The Cougars defeated Concordia St. Paul, 6-5 in eight innings in game one and then had a stellar pitching effort by freshman Dan Johnson and a walk-off hit from his brother, Rob Johnson, for a 1-0 victory and sweep of the doubleheader
- The sweep was USF’s first since taking two from Upper Iowa on April 13 at Harmodon Park.
- In the 1-0 game two victory, R. Johnson, who had four hits, including a home run, in six at bats on the day, had the walk-off hit with a shot down the left field line plating Ed Reichenbach with the winning run

SMSU
- Jon Leighton batted .320 (8 for 25) in six games with three home runs and six RBI
- Leighton finished with 17 total bases and a .680 slugging percentage
- Leighton had three outfield assists during the four-game series versus Wayne State
- Leighton leads the team with a .378 batting average and also ranks first with 33 RBIs
- Leighton is second on the team with 10 doubles and seven home runs

St. Cloud State
- The Huskies improved to 34-6, 19-6 NSIC with a 4-2 record in league games last week against Bemidji State and Northern State
- On April 27, the Huskies posted a 4-2 and 11-2 sweep at Bemidji State.  On April 30 and May 1, the Huskies were 2-2 against Northern State
- Rookie second baseman Judd Davis paces SCSU this season with a .440 batting average
- Reese Gregory tied a team record last week by hitting his 15th home run of the season on May 1.  He ties the team record of 15 homers set by Zak Hoffman in 2015.  SCSU has already broken the team record for home runs this season.  SCSU currently has 70 home runs as a team in 2016
- The Huskies currently own an impressive .377 team batting average in 2016
- Karl Sorensen leads the club this year with 61 hits, while Gregory leads the team with 50 RBI
 
Upper Iowa
- Upper Iowa went 1-5 last week against the NSIC’s top two teams with a pair of losses to Minnesota Duluth and a 1-3 mark against Augustana
- The win came in game three against the Vikings (7-6) and UIU nearly pulled off a second upset in game four, but fell 10-9 after AU hit a pair of home runs in the bottom of the ninth
- Collin Thomas earned the win for UIU, while Ross Kulick (1 Save), Ethan Eckelberg, Zach Cain and Sawyer Bawek all through well on the mound
- Colton Janssen led the team in hitting for the week with a .353 average thanks to 6 hits, while Cody Booker hit two homeruns and Luis Ravelo, Alex George and Jacob Greco all hit one apiece
- The Peacocks will close out the regular season at home with six games this week; UIU will host Winona State for a double header on Wednesday and Wayne State for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday
- UIU will recognize their seniors  on Saturday between games

Wayne State
- Wayne State was 5-1 last week, splitting at home vs. Sioux Falls while going 4-0 vs. SMSU in home games moved to Alexandria, Minnesota
- Junior Aaron Krier hit a team-best .652 during the week going 15 for 23 with 2 homers, 12 RBI and nine runs scored
- Senior first baseman Albert Johnson has a 21-game hitting streak, going 12 for 23 during the week (.522)
- Freshman starting pitcher Mitch Ragan fired his first complete game and shutout of the season for WSC, throwing a four hit shutout with seven strikeouts in 9-0 win over SMSU
- WSC closes the regular season at Minnesota State Wednesday and at Upper Iowa Friday and Saturday

 Winona State
- WSU dropped a four-game series to Minnesota State last weekend at Loughrey Field in Winona State University
- Mitchell Stalsberg pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts and one earned run despite a 2-1 loss Sunday
- Jesus Cazares led the Warriors with a .400 average and Tyler Nehring added WSU’s lone home run of the series
- WSU travels to Upper Iowa for a doubleheader Wednesday before closing the regular season with a four-game home series against Concordia on Friday and Saturday

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
4/11/16
Player: Reese Gregory - SCSU
Pitcher: Tyus Adkins - UIU
4/19/16
Player: Jimmy Heck - UMD
Pitcher: Michael Letkewicz - Augie
4/26/16
Player: Alex Wojciechowski - UMD (3)
Pitcher: Zach Carstens - UIU
5/3/16
Player: Aaron Krier - WSC
Pitcher: Dalton Roach - MSU