For Immediate Release
Monday, April 26, 2021
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
 #16 Jake Shusterich (1B, 6-3, 205, Sr., R/R, Nipomo, Calif. / Arroyo Grande HS) - St. Cloud State
- Slashed .625/.727/1.188 for a 1.915 OPS
- Went 10-for-16 as he recorded a hit in all five games with four multi-hit performances and one three-hit game
- Had six doubles, a home run and 10 RBI
- Scored eight runs and belted a grand slam against Bemidji State
- Hit a game-tying single against No. 24 Minnesota-Crookston and had a pair of two-double games

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#12 Matt Osterberg (LHP, 6-2, 200, Jr., L/L, Coleman, Wis. / Coleman HS) - St. Cloud State
- Worked  6.0 shutout innings of one-hit, two-walk baseball in a 9-0 win over No. 24 UMC
- The lefthander struck out a career-high 13 batters on the way to earning his second win of the season
- He worked an immaculate inning in the third, striking out the side on nine pitches 

Other Top Performances - Player
#1 Jordan Barth (AUGIE) went 8-for-21 with three homers, nine RBIs and six runs scored. In game one against Winona State, Augustana trailed by one before Barth hit a go-ahead two run homer in the top of the seventh inning with the Vikings down to their last two outs in the game. The hit proved to be the game-winner and helped the Vikings to a series win against the Warriors.

#5 Calvin James (UMary) had a tremendous week at the plate, posting a slash line of .471/.591/.824 (8-of-17) for a OPS of 1.415 with four doubles and a triple.  James scored five runs and drove in five runs. He walked five times and struck out once and had two hits in four of five games.

#1 Joey Werner (MSU) batted 5-for-10 in the three-game weekend series at Wayne State with a double and a pair of home runs, his team-best seventh and eighth homers of the season, in Sunday’s 13-3 win to lead the Mavericks to a three-game sweep over WSC. Werner had four runs and seven RBI in the series while also drawing three free passes and stealing his team-high 12th base of the season.

#29 Kaiden Cardoso (MINOT) batted .471 (8-for-17) over the past week with two multi-hit games (3 hits). Cardoso has hits in his last three games all against Southwest Minnesota State, a series where he hit .636 (7-11) with four runs scored one double, one home run, and five RBI. Cardoso went 3-for-4 with one RBI in Game 1 against the Mustangs and 3-for-5 with three runs scored, one double, one home run, and three RBI in Game 3 against SMSU on Sunday. His offensive performance helped lift the Beavers to a series victory as they won two out of three against Southwest Minnesota State.

#39 Ben Carolin (NSU) led Northern State hitting .471 versus Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State. He totaled eight hits, including two homeruns and one double. He recorded seven RBI and five runs scored with an .882 slugging percentage. He notched a grand slam on Saturday and hit a week best 3-for-4 on Sunday. He added seven putouts defensively without an error. 

#7 Derek Smith (SMSU) batted .375 in five games last week, including a two-game split at nationally-ranked UMC on Thursday and then taking one of three games at Minot State. Smith had a double, two home runs, scored four runs and had three RBIs during the week. In SMSU’s win over UMC in game two, he hit a pair of solo home runs, including the game-tying homer in the eighth inning. He had a hit in each game at Minot State, including two hits and an RBI in game three of the series.

#23 Jake Hilmer (UIU) batted 10-22 (.454) over six games to go along with eight RBI and four runs scored. He went 7-13 (.538) with a home run and a double in UIU’s weekend series with Sioux Falls. He had a four-hit game and tallied four RBI in Saturday’s second act.

#33 Sam Kohnle (WSU) started a four-game hitting streak this past week, collecting at least one hit in all five Warrior games. He also batted his way into the Warrior record books this past week, becoming the all-time leader at WSU in singles at with a base hit at Wayne State on April 21. He also hit his first career home run in an at-bat against Augustana, driving in three runs in the process. For the week, Kohnle was 8-for-20 at the plate, with four RBI and a double.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher  
#13 Koby Bishop (AUGIE) earned the win for Augustana last Wednesday in his game one start against Sioux Falls. The senior tossed six shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out five. On the season, he is now 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 34.2 innings pitched.

#13 Austin Wagner (UMary) pitched five perfect innings in the Marauders 10-0 win over UMD. He struck out 8 while retiring all 15 hitters that he faced. He combined with two relievers to post a 1-hit 1-walk shutout of UMD.

#15 Collin Denk (MSU) pitched game two of MSU's three game series at Wayne State this past weekend. In an eight-inning outing, Denk improved to a perfect 6-0 in six starts this season when he allowed only one run on six hits. Denk was methodical, striking out six while not surrendering one free pass to Wildcat hitters. The Mavericks went on to win the game 10-2, Saturday.

#13 Matt Graham (USF) threw a complete game three-hit shutout to lead the USF Baseball Team to a 3-0 win over Upper Iowa. With his win, USF has won five straight games and 9-of-11. Graham allowed just three hits across nine innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. He threw just 74 pitches in the third complete game of the season and second straight.

#34 Duncan Snider (UIU) posted a 1-1 record and logged nine innings of work over two starts. He allowed five runs, four earned on seven hits and four free passes while striking out ten in his two appearances.

#29 Mitchell Mueller (WSU) earned a win and a save in a 3-2 week for the Warriors in a key stretch of NSIC contests. Mueller earned the win against Wayne State mid-week, going four full innings, conceding just two hits and one earned run. He struck out four Wildcats, while walking one. Against Augustana, Mueller collected a save in an impressive two innings of work, allowing no hits, no runs, no walks and striking out four in an 5-4 Winona State win.

#16 Seth Brewer (NSU) recorded his sixth win of the season in a run-rule victory over Bemidji State. He threw 6.0 innings with a 1.50 ERA. He tallied ten strikeouts and gave up just five hits and one earned run.

#32 Dominick Parkhurst (MINOT) tossed his second-longest outing of the year, a 6.0-inning start, with four strikeouts and just one walk. He tossed 89 pitches in a no-decision against SMSU in a Game 2 walk-off victory on Saturday. This marked his second start in a week that he went longer than 6.0 innings and earned a quality start in the process by allowing three or fewer runs. The Beavers continue to battle for a top-four spot in the NSIC with a big series win over SMSU this past weekend.
 

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
4/20/21
Player: #3 Carter Howell - Augustana
Pitcher: #16 Seth Brewer  - Northern State (2)
4/26/21
Player:   #16 Jake Shusterich  - St. Cloud State
Pitcher: #12 Matt Osterberg - St. Cloud State


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.