For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#2 Declan Buckle (IF, 5-11, 175, Sr., Cornerbrook, Newfoundland / Moncton HS) - Minot State
- Enjoyed a career day in a doubleheader sweep against 17th-ranked Augustana last week
- Collected multiple hits in each game while blasting his sixth home run of the season 
- Went 5-for-8 (.625) with four RBI and four runs scored and a walk
- Homered and added a double for a 1.125 slugging percentage 

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#40 Will Lavin (RHP, 5-11, 175, So., Hastings, Minn. / Hastings HS) - Bemidji State
- Threw 7.0 scoreless innings in a 7-2 win over Sioux Falls
- Recorded a career-high nine strikeouts and allowed just three hits and two walks
- Allowed just four base runners through his seven innings of work
- Earned his first win of the season

Other Top Performances - Player
#3 Carter Howell  (AUGIE) held a .316 batting average across five games. He had six hits and six RBI in Augustana's series against Minot State and Southwest Minnesota State. He logged three doubles and slugged .474.
#29 Sam Kalberer (BSU) hit a team-high .375 from the plate with two extra-base hits in series against UIU and USF. He led BSU with six hits and 10 total bases, including a three-run home run in 7-2 win over USF. He reached base on three walks and totaled a .474 on-base percentage and .625 slugging percentage. He recorded a perfect fielding percentage with 31 putouts and one assist. 
#23 Derek Shoen (UMary) blasted three home runs, doubled, scored seven runs and drove in nine over five games. He hit .368/.429/.895 (9-of-17) with a 1.324 OPS. In a doubleheader with Concordia-St. Paul he was 3-for-7 with three home runs and 7 RBI. He had hits in four of five games and finished the week with a 3-for-5 effort with a home run, 2 RBI and two runs scored on Sunday. His 10 home runs are one shy of the Marauders NCAA era record and two short of the all-time school record. He also pitched 4.0 innings, allowing 0 earned runs, 4 hits and 1 walk with three strikeouts.
#11 Tim Pokornowski  (UMD) went 8-for-17 last week, which included 5 runs, 2 RBI, 2 triples, and 4 walks. Pokornowski is also riding a 6-game hit streak. Pokornowski was also solid on the defensive side making some crucial plays in the outfield as he had 7 putouts last week.
#5 Nick Altermatt (MSU) led the Mavericks offensively last week while batting .500 with 11 hits in 22 at bats. He led MSU with four extra-base hits, including three doubles and his team-high 10th home run of the season. He owned a team-high .773 slugging percentage while seeing action in all five games for the Mavericks. He tied for the Mavericks' lead in on-base percentage (.542) He served as a two-way threat in the Mavericks' 5-0 victory over Northern State in game two of a three-game series, last weekend. He pitched seven shutout innings to improve to a 6-0 record on the season in the contest.
#5 Isaiah Chevalier (NSU) batted 5-for-10 with a batting average of .500 and a slugging percentage of .800 in Northern State's weekend series at Minnesota State. This weekend he totaled five hits, one homerun, four RBI, and one run scored. In the series finale Chevalier went 3-for-4 batting, including a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning.
#37 Brady Klehr (USF) after going 5-of-11 for a .455 against Bemidji State in a three-game weekend series, Brady Klehr of the University of Sioux Falls Baseball Team has raised his average to .351. He has three runs scored, a double, home run, two RBI and nine total bases while slugging .818 with a .455 OBP. This season, he has a .526 slugging mark and .388 OBP with three home runs and 21 RBI.
#5 Ryan Hull (UIU) led the Peacock offense to a big week with 9 hits in 21 at bats including a double. The Peacock centerfielder scored 8 runs and drove in two while the team went 4-1 with two wins against both Bemidji State and UMary.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher
#37 Ryan Jares  (AUGIE) recorded 11 strikeouts across 8.1 innings. He earned the win in Augustana's 4-0 shutout victory over Southwest Minnesota State as he held the Mustangs to just four hits in the win. His record improves to 4-1 this season.
#24 Parker Wakelyn (UMary) was the winning pitcher in both Marauders victories last week. In 7.0 innings he allowed five hits, 3 runs, 0 earned runs, and walked 5 while striking out six. He struck out 2 and allowed 1 unearned run in 2.0 innings of relief in the Marauders 11-6 win over Concordia-St. Paul. He pitched 5.0 innings against Upper Iowa on Sunday, striking out 4 and allowing 2 runs, both unearned,  on 4 hits and 4 walks.
#23 Brendan Knoll (MSU) pitched a seven-inning complete-game shutout to improve to 5-1 on the season, last Saturday. He held Northern State to four hits in game one of the series for the Mavericks. He walked one batter and struck out seven others en route to the 8-0 victory. He owned a .148 opponent batting average in his one appearance, which was the second-best throughout the week among the Maverick staff.
#32 Dominick Parkhurst (MINOT) dominated on the hill giving up 1 run on 2 hits in 7 innings and striking out six Augustana hitters to earn the win.
#33 Mitchell Tolk (NSU) earned his first win of the season in Northern State's series finale win at Minnesota State. He threw 4.0 innings and recorded an ERA of 2.25 in the game. Tolk allowed only two hits and one earned run, while throwing four strikeouts.
#5 Caleb Ditmarson (USF) was 1-0 with a 2.84 earned run average against Bemidji State this weekend. He has seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings while allowing four hits and two runs as USF won 5-3 in game one. This season Ditmarson is now 4-2 with a 3.70 earned run average and 47 strikeouts in 41.1 innings.
Colin Lacey (UIU) threw 6.2 innings for the win improving to 3-2 on the season and posted a new high-mark for strikeouts in a game this season with nine. Lacey and Marhefke, who got the final out with a strikeout with the bases loaded for a save, teamed up for the second time this season to register a shutout. Lacey scattered three hits and four walks to get through his 26 batters.
#25 Andrew Staebell (WSC) fired a complete game three-hitter with 12 K's in 2-1 win at Minnesota Crookston Sunday. He did not walk a batter and fired 73 strikes in 94 pitches. It was just his second start of his career and first since 2019 in 52 career appearances.
 
NSIC Baseball Players of the Week
2/8/22
Player:  #29 Ben Thoma - Minnesota Crookston
Pitcher:  #33 Jake Dykhoff  - Minnesota Crookston
2/15/22
Player:  #2 JT Mix - Augustana
Pitcher:  #33 Jake Dykhoff  - Minnesota Crookston (2)
2/22/22
Player:  #4 Noah Christenson - Sioux Falls
Pitcher: #40 Max Otto - Northern State
3/1/22
Player: #11 Ben Prediger – University of Mary
Pitcher: #13 Austin Wagner – University of Mary
3/7/22
Player: #6 Colin Lynam – Wayne State
Pitcher: #9 RJ Martinez – Minot State
3/14/22
Player: #5 Nick Altermatt - Minnesota State
Pitcher: #15 Nicolas Herold – Winona State
3/22/22
Player: #4 Jaden Werner – Concordia-St. Paul
Pitcher: #6 Luke DeGrammont – Concordia-St. Paul
3/29/22
Player: #14 Drey Dirksen – Augustana 
Pitcher: #20 Tanner Brown – Augustana 
4/5/22
Player: #3 Mikey Gottschalk- Minnesota State
Pitcher: #9 RJ Martinez – Minot State (2)
4/12/22
Player: #2 Declan Buckle- Minot State 
Pitcher: #40 Will Lavin - Bemidji 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 25 team national championships and crowned 90 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 can 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.