For Immediate Release
Monday, March 22, 2021
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#1 Joey Werner (OF, 5-9, 185, Sr., L/R, Hasting, Minn. / Hastings HS) - Minnesota State
- Sported a .545 batting average (6-for-11) in the series sweep at Bemidji State
- Led the NSIC last weekend with a 1.455 slugging percentage
- Had three home runs and a double for eight RBI and four runs scored 

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#10 Griffin Lapp (RHP, 5-11, 170, So., R/R, Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield South HS) - Concordia-St. Paul
- Threw 8.0 shutout innings, allowing just four hits in a win over UMD
- Struck out 10 with no walks in his first victory of the season
- Retired 19 batters in a row from the second to the eighth inning and faced the minimum through the first 7.2 innings
- Lowered his season ERA to 1.84 and his opponent averaged to .200

Other Top Performances - Player
#3 Carter Howell (AUGIE) went 4-for-9 on the weekend to help the Vikings earn a series win over the St. Cloud State Huskies.

#18 Scott Finberg (UMC) was 6-of-11 in three games for a .545 batting average. Finberg had five runs scored and six RBIs in three games. He had a home run on Sunday against Winona State and went 3-of-4 with six RBI and two runs scored in Sunday’s 14-9 win over the Warriors.

#4 Jordan Williams (MINOT) had three home runs in the Game 2 victory over Sioux Falls on Saturday. The three hits marked a season-high. He also drove in nine runs in two games against Sioux Falls on Saturday, including a season-high six RBI in game two. Went 5-for-8 in the doubleheader against the Cougars with nine RBI. Stole two bases and scored a total of seven runs in three games.

#9 Justin Hutter (NSU) led Northern State hitting .400 versus Wayne State. He tallied four hits, including three doubles  and added two runs score and three RBI. He hit a weekend best 2-for-4 with two doubles in the Sunday contest - Recorded three putouts and two assists defensively without an error. 

#6 Nathan Kuhn (SMSU) batted .455 in three games versus Upper Iowa, batting 5 for 11 with two doubles, three RBIs and seven total bases. He walked four times to finish with a .600 on-base pct and on defense had nine putouts and eight assists.

#12 Samuel Grushkin (UIU) went 3-8 (.375) with a home run and four walks in UIU’s series win over SMSU. -The freshman scored four times and drove in three Peacocks over the weekend. -The third baseman hit a three-run home run to tie Sunday’s game up in the bottom of the eighth inning.

#20 Alex Logelin (WSC) hit .600 for the weekend going 6 for 10 with two homers, two doubles, three RBI and four runs scored. He went 4 for 4 with 2 HR, a double, 3 RBI and three runs scored in 10-6 win Saturday over NSU. He was 2 for 3 with a double and walk in 8-5 loss to NSU in series opener. He walked, hit by a pitch and scored a run in Sunday’s series clinching 8-2 win over NSU.

#2 Martin Derek (WSU) went 6-for-13 across three games this past weekend, as Winona State opened up NSIC play with Minnesota-Crookston. Batting in the second slot, Martin, from Waconia, Minn., had two RBIs and drew two walks, while scoring four times against the Golden Eagles.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher  
#21 Max Steffens (AUGIE) earned the game-three win on the mound for the Vikings to clinch a series win against St. Cloud State. Steffens went 6.1 innings and yielded just one earned run while striking out five. The senior is now 2-0 on the season with a 1.59 ERA.

Jake Dykhoff (UMC) earned a 10-0 shutout win Saturday over Winona State. He pitched seven innings and allowed no runs on just four hits. Dykhoff had 10 strikeouts and just two walks. He has a 0.69 ERA with 19 strikeouts and just four walks on the season. 

#9 Cam Kline (MSU) made his second start of the season to seal a series sweep over the Beavers as the Mavericks won 13-0 in seven innings. Kline earned his first win of the campaign in a one-hit showing over six innings of work. The Maverick junior walked one and struck out 10 other Beaver batters of the 18 he faced Sunday.

#9 RJ Martinez (MINOT) struck out a career-high 10 batters in a Game-1 start against Sioux Falls on Saturday. He tossed 7.0 innings to earn his second win of the season and lower his ERA to 3.18 (17.0 IP, 6 ER). RJ opened NSIC play with a victory and helped set the tone for a Beavers sweep.

#34 Duncan Snider (UIU) went 7.1 innings allowing just one unearned and five hits and five walks while setting down seven on strikes earning the win over SMSU on Saturday afternoon. The senior tossed over 120 pitches and faced 25 batters in the winning effort.

NSIC Baseball Players of the Week
3/8/21
Player:  #20 Brock Reller - Minnesota Crookston
Pitcher:  #29 Jon Ludwig - Minnesota State
3/15/21
Player:  #20 Brock Reller - Minnesota Crookston (2)
Pitcher:  #22 John Bezdicek - SMSU
3/22/21
Player: #1 Joey Werner - Minnesota State
Pitcher: #10 Griffin Lapp - Concordia-St. Paul

About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 16-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a 16-team union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 23 team national championships and crowned 77 individual national champions. For additional information, visit NorthernSun.org.

About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes have the opportunity to earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.