For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#42 Christian Kuzemka (IF, 6-4, 240, Sr., R/R, Wheaton, Ill. / Saint Francis HS) - Augustana
- Was red-hot at the plate in the Vikings two-game series with Duluth and three-game series with UMary
- In five games, batted .588 (10-for-17) with eight runs scored, 11 RBI and two home runs
- Added two walks and a stolen base
- Added 22 put outs and two assists in the field 
- Recorded three games with at least three hits 

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#37 Jonathan Draheim (RHP, 6-4, 180, So., R/R, Jordan, Minn. / Jordan HS) - University of Mary
- Pitched the fourth no-hitter in UMary program history in a 4-0 win over Upper Iowa
- Posted five strikeouts in the 7-inning complete game
- Pitched six straight perfect innings to finish the game
- Is 4-0 in four starts with three complete games this season

Other Top Performances - Player
#5 Calvin James (UMary) finished the week 7-for-14 (.500/.611/.811) with two doubles and two home runs. He walked four times with no strikeouts and scored four runs and drove in six. He tied NCAA-era school single-game record with five hits on Saturday against Augie. He was flawless in the field in 9 chances (8 assists).

#3 Declan Buckle (MINOT) hit 14-for-27 (.518) against Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State with two three-hit games and six RBI. He notched back-to-back three-hit games against Concordia-St. Paul and against Minnesota State with five RBI combined between those two games. He hit two doubles against CSP and launched his second home run of the season in Game 1 against Minnesota State. He has a hit in seven of his last eight games with four multi-hit games (all three-hit games) during that span to raise his batting average to .415 with a slugging percentage of .623.

#9 Justin Hutter (NSU) hit .529 versus Sioux Falls and Upper Iowa. He recorded nine hits, including two doubles and added two RBI and two runs scored. He tallied multiple hits in all four games and is currently on a 5-game hit streak. Defensively, he notched 12 putouts and eight assists.

#17 Kyle Gulbrandson (USF) hit .375 in three starts this past week. He had three hits in eight trips to the place with a run scored and four total bases. He had a steal, a walk, a .444 OBP and .500 slugging while registering two putouts and an assist.

#20 Tate Wallat (SCSU) went 7-for-15 (.467), hitting in all five of the Huskies’ games including a 3-for-3 performance against Winona State to extend his career-best hitting streak to eight games. The redshirt freshman scored six times, blasted two home runs, had a 3:1 BB:K ratio and drove in three to help SCSU to a 3-2 record. He was perfect in all 17 chances defensively while starting all five games at third base, giving him a stellar 3.73 range factor per nine innings.

#20 Hogan Penny (UIU) posted a .421 batting average and slugged .632 with 8 hits including a double and a homerun. He drove in a team-high seven runs and scored once. He netted an on-base percentage of .500 thanks to 8 hits, 2 walks and 1 hit-by-pitch.

#9 Andrew Hanson (WSC) hit team-high .444 in five games, recording three multi-hit games. He was 8 for 18 with seven runs scored and 8-8 on stolen bases. He went 3 for 4 with three runs scored and two stolen bases in a 12-3 win at UMD Saturday. He was 2 for 3 with a solo homer, three runs scored and four stolen bases in Sunday 4-2 win at UMD.

#14 Austin Savary (WSU) went 4-for-11 at the plate in three games for the Warriors, scoring once. He also was the starting pitcher in the fourth game of the week for Winona State, going 7 innings, conceding six hits and one run. He struck out five while walking none in the 2-1 victory for WSU.  Overall, Winona State was 3-1 for the week.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher  
#6 Jed Schmidt (AUGIE) earned the win in game three of Augustana’s series with UMary, clinching the series victory. In relief, Schmidt tossed 4.2 no-hit innings with 10 strikeouts and just one walk.

#33 Jake Dykhoff (UMC) gave up just two earned runs in a 4-2 win over Concordia-St. Paul. He tied the school-record with 14 strikeouts. Dykhoff had no walks in the game and allowed just seven hits.

#24 Tanner Russ (UMD) was dominant in Sunday’s outing going 7.2 Innings for the Bulldogs. He surrendered only three hits and two earned runs. He struck out 10 Wildcat batters while surrendering no walks. His 1.48 ERA currently ranks third in the NSIC. He has surrendered only 11 hits in 24.1 innings pitched good for second in the NSIC.

#29 Jon Ludwig (MSU) pitched six complete innings of one-run, two-hit baseball against Minot State last Saturday. Despite taking his first loss of the season to move to a 5-1 record, Ludwig struck out 11 of the 20 Beavers’ batters he faced and didn’t surrender a walk. The Mavericks lost the game 1-0.

#9 RJ Martinez (MINOT) made three appearances over the last week as he recorded 10 strikeouts over 9.0 total innings with just one walk. He struck out four against Concordia-St. Paul over 3.0 innings and struck out five over 5.0 innings against nationally-ranked Minnesota State. In Game 2 of the series against Minnesota State, recorded his first-career save tossing one scoreless inning, not allowing a hit, and recording one strikeout to finish out an 11-9 win over No. 15 Minnesota State.

#16 Seth Brewer (NSU) threw 8.0 innings in Northern’s Saturday win over Upper Iowa. He struck out ten in the game, notching his fourth win of the year. He recorded a 3.38 ERA for the week. 

#15 Keenahn Coyle (USF) earned the win with seven innings of five-hit baseball in a 4-2 win over St. Cloud State. He allowed just one earned run, had four strikeouts against three walks in seven innings. It was Coyle’s longest start since May 2019 when he went eight innings against Concordia St. Paul.

#28 Jack Habeck (SCSU) won each of his two appearances on the week, going a combined 2-0 with zero runs allowed, just two hits and zero walks across 7.1 innings while striking out five. Making his first collegiate start against Winona State, Habeck tossed 5.2 frames of two-hit baseball on just 66 pitches to earn his fourth win of the season, striking out two and walking none. He came out of the pen to earn win number five with 1.2 perfect innings against Sioux Falls on April 11, retiring all five batters he faced while punching out a pair.

#13 Chris Webber (UIU) appeared in 3 games for Upper Iowa last week and posted a 1-0 record with a save in 5 innings on the mound. Webber didn’t allow any runs and surrendered just 3 hits to the Marauders and Wolves while striking out five batters. 

#27 Brody Sintek (WSC) fired a complete game shutout in 1-0 win at Bemidji State Wednesday. He allowed just five hits with four strikeouts and two walks on 97 pitches in 7 inning game.

#38 Dillon Whittaker (WSU) threw six standout innings for Winona State in a 7-inning 2-1 win against Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday. The senior from Waconia, Minn. scattered five hits in his outing, struck out five Mustangs while only walking two. He picked up the win, his first of the year.

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
3/30/21
Player: #1 Joey Werner - Minnesota State (2)
Pitcher: #20 Tanner Brown - Augustana
4/5/21
Player: #7 Sam Baier - Augustana
Pitcher: #16 Seth Brewer - Northern State
4/13/21
Player: #42 Christian Kuzemka - Augustana
Pitcher: #37 Jonathan Draheim - University of Mary

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.