For Immediate Release
Monday, April 5, 2021
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#7 Sam Baier (SS, 6-0, 190, Sr., R/R, Springfield, Minn. /Springfield HS) - Augustana
- Batted .522 (12-for-23) with seven homers, two doubles, 19 RBI, 11 runs scored and 35 total bases
- His slugging percentage was 1.522
- In a three-game series against BSU, he went 11-for-15 with seven home runs, two doubles and 16 RBI
- His seven home runs came in Saturday’s doubleheader, with four homers in game one
- His four home runs in game one broke the single game Augustana record
- Broke the Augustana total base record in each game with 16 in game one and 14 in game two
- Broke the career games started and career games played record at Augustana with his game two start on Saturday

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#16 Seth Brewer (RHP, 6-2, 195, Sr., L/R, Rapid City, S.D./ Stevens HS) - Northern State
- Threw 7.0 innings in a 6-1 win versus Winona State
- Earned his third win of the season
- Notched a 1.29 ERA, giving up just one earned run on four hits
- Struck out a season high ten in the game
- Held WSU to a .167 batting average

Other Top Performances - Player
#29 Riley Schlimm (UMary) hit a game-winning grand slam with two outs in a 6-4 win over Sioux Falls to kick off a weekend sweep for the Marauders. He scored two runs in each of the three games against USF and finished the weekend 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run, 6 RBI, 6 runs scored, 2 walks, 2 HBP and a stolen base. He slashed .500/.667/.1.125 over the three game series.

#13 Anders Brown (UMD) went 7-11 over the weekend at the plate. He recorded a slash line of.636/.636/.727 and posted an OPS of 1.363 over three games. He recorded 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

#1 Joey Werener (MSU) batted 7-for-18 while posting seven RBI over the stretch of five games. He scored three runs, had a double and walked five times to lead the Mavericks in a 4-1 showing in NSIC games last week.

#14 Karson Hesser (NSU) hit a team high .444 for the Wolves versus Minnesota State and Winona State. He recorded eight total hits, including three doubles, with at least one hit in each contest. He scored four runs and added four RBI. He improved his season average by 170 points while playing perfect defense with eight putouts.

#7 Tyler Cate (USF) hit .545 with six hits in 11 at bats and two runs scored with a home run and two RBI. He had a .909 slugging mark and .643 OBP while fielding 1.000. Cate, who had a team-best 10 total bases, moved his average to a team-best .320 with his resurgence this weekend.

#30 Caleb Marquez (SCSU) went 7-for-13 (.539) with five runs scored, a double, two home runs and eight RBI across four games played. He racked up three straight multi-hit games to begin the week. He scored a career-best four runs at Concordia-St. Paul and tied his career-high twice with three RBI against CSP and versus No. 19 Minnesota State.

#20 Hogan Penny (UIU) went 6-14 (.428) w/ a double, an HBP, and a stolen base in a series win over Minnesota Duluth. The senior scored twice and drove in six runs, five of which came in the final game of the series.

#33 Sam Kohnle (WSU) with his first-inning single against Northern State on Friday, earned his 200th hit as a Warrior. For the week, Kohnle Was 5-for-18 across five NSIC games, good for a .278 average. The senior from Tisch Mills, Wis. accumulated three RBIs, had two runs scored and drew two walks. He also stole a base for Winona State.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher  
#20 Tanner Brown (AUGIE) dominated on the mound against Bemidji State with a seven-inning shutout win in game one featuring seven strikeouts. Brown has now thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings, including seven from his perfect game against Minot State.

#19 Paxton Miller (UMary) picked up a pair of saves in back-to-back wins over Sioux Falls to lead the Marauders to a weekend sweep of the Cougars. He closed out a 6-4 win Friday with a scoreless inning of relief. He followed up with a perfect 7th inning in an 8-6 Marauders win on Saturday for his third save of the season. For the week he pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out three.

#24 Tanner Russ (UMD) tossed seven full innings en route to his second win of the season on Saturday. He surrendered only four hits, one earned run, no walks, and struck out six Peacock batters. 

#25 Hunter Even (MSU) pitched one inning in two games at St. Cloud State to earn a save in each of the Mavericks’ wins. He allowed no hits or runs while preserving the lead with four strikeouts. He hit one batter while maintaining his team-best 0.00 ERA.

#37 Kolby Kiser (SMSU) pitched six-plus innings, allowing six hits, two runs (one earned) with four strikeouts and one walk, in earning a no-decision versus CSP in SMSU’s 4-3 victory. He has appeared in four games this season with three starts and has a 2.57 ERA in 14 innings with nine strikeouts.

#11 Trevor Koenig (SCSU) threw a career-high 8.0 innings and struck out a career-best nine batters against No. 19 Minnesota State on April 3, allowing just two earned on seven hits and three walks.

#7 Blake Thiesse (UIU)  went the distance for UIU in a 2-1 win and held UMD scoreless through seven innings.  The outing marked the sophomore’s first career complete-game win. Thiesse allowed one earned run on nine hits and a walk while fanning five in nine innings of work. Thiesse’s stellar performance featured three 1-2-3 innings including two consecutive frames where the sophomore shutout the side in the third and fourth.

#29 Mitchell Mueller (WSU) made two appearances this week for the Warriors, throwing in relief both times. Against the University of Mary, Mueller went 1 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit and one earned run. He stuck out two batters, while walking one. Against Northern State, in one and one-third innings, he did not concede a hit or a run and notched a strikeout along the way.

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

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.