For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
NSIC Media Relations

#3 Carter Howell  (OF, 6-0, 200, Jr., R/R, Moorhead, Minn. / Moorhead HS) - Augustana
- Hit .471 as Augustana went 5-0 for the week
- Totaled eight hits in 17 at-bats with a double, a triple and a home run
- Slugged .824 with a .524 on-base percentage
- Recorded a team-best eight RBI, scored seven runs and had five stolen bases

#21 Luke Tupy (LHP, 6-5, 195, R-Fr., New Prague, Minn. / New Prague HS) - St. Cloud State
- Etched his name in the record books, spinning the 28th perfect game in NCAA D-II history
- Was perfect through seven frames, striking out 15 batters to record SCSU's first no-hitter since 2013
- Recorded just the sixth no-hitter since at least 1995 for SCSU
- The 15 strikeouts are the second-most in a single game in program history, trailing only Matt Jensen's 17 against MSU Moorhead in 1970

Other Top Performances - Player
#15 James Wirt (BSU) led BSU hitting .438 and eight RBI in a series versus UMary and SCSU. He totaled four RBI, two stolen bases and went 3-of-4 in game two vs. UMary - Scored run or hit RBI in all five games. He recorded 14 putouts and eight assists with no errors and extended his reached base streak to 10 games. 
#23 Derek Shoen (UMary) broke the UMary single season home run record when he hit his 13th round tripper to cap a 5-run 9th inning rally in a 12-9 win over Bemidji State. In five games last week the All-NSIC first baseman was 9-for-16 with two doubles and a home run with seven runs scored and four RBIs. He also walked six times. He posted a line of .563/.652/.875 with an OPS of 1.527. Also closed out two of the Marauders three wins on the hill, earning one save and pitching two scoreless, hitless innings.
#8 Jake Hjelle (UMC)  hit .500 for the week helping the Golden Eagles to two wins. He scored five runs, had one double, three home runs, and had seven RBIs.
#8 Brodie Paulson (UMD) went 9-16 on the week, while tallying 10 RBIs, 3 runs, 4 doubles and a home run. Paulson also tallied two walks and tallying a perfect fielding percentage.
#10 Drew Behling (MINOT) had a career day in a doubleheader at Southwest Minnesota State as the Beavers won both games led by Behling's offense as he hit three home runs, including two in the nightcap.
#14 Grant Lung (USF) hit .353 over the past five games to lead USF to a 4-1 record, including four straight wins. In helping USF move into fifth place in the NSIC, he has a .450 OBP and a .412 slugging mark with six hits in 17 AB.
#1 Isaac Nett (SMSU) had at least one hit in all five games last week as he batted .474 (9 of 19) with two doubles, two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored. He finished with a .895 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .500. Nett went 3 for 4 with two home runs and a double, including hitting a walk-off home run, in game two on Sunday versus Minnesota Crookston to give SMSU the series victory. On Thursday, he was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a double in a game one loss to Minot State. On the season, he leads SMSU in batting average (.360) and is tied for the team lead in both doubles (6) and home runs (5).
#22 Sam Riola (SCSU) had another monster week at the dish for the Huskies, helping the team extend its win streak to 13 with wins over Northern State (DH sweep April 21) and Bemidji State (series sweep April 23-24). Riola batted .526 (10-19) on the week with a slugging percentage of .842 and an on-base percentage of .625. He had three extra base hits (2B, 3B, HR) and 6 RBI with 9 runs scored. He also walked 4 times and stole 4 bases (4-4) over the 5 victories.  The redshirt junior's best game of the week came against Bemidji State on April 23, as he went 4-for-6 with a HR, 2 RBI and 2 R. It was his third 4-hit game of the season. Riola leads the conference in nearly every offensive category, including average (.426), slugging percentage (.860), on-base percentage (.543), OPS (1.403), runs scored (52), hits (61), home runs (15) and walks (31). He also ranks third in hits (58), third in RBI (47), second in triples (4) and second in stolen bases (24).
Joshua Hawksford (WSU) was 6-for-13 overall on the week. He hit two home runs in one game vs. Upper Iowa, a 5-4 win. He collected three RBI on the week and was 1-for-1 in stolen base attempts.

Other Top Performances - Pitcher
Ryan Jares (AUGIE) carried a perfect game into the sixth inning giving up just two hits in a 10-0 win.  He struck out 10 batters in the seven-inning complete game. He allowed just two hits, holding opponents to an .087 average and gave up zero walks.
#37 Jonathan Draheim (UMary) returning to full force after he was slowed earlier by injury, pitched the Marauders to a 4-3 win over Bemidji State. In 5.0 innings, the junior struck out six and allowed just six hits, no walks and two runs.
#37 Alex Koep (UMC) went seven innings in a 12-2 victory over Southwest Minnesota State Sunday. He struck out nine, and walked just two. Koep allowed just one run, on three hits in the appearance.
#4 Nathan Culley (MSU) pitched six complete innings as the starting pitcher in the Mavericks' 11-0 win over Concordia-St. Paul. He earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the season. He posted 15 strikeouts with one walk surrendered in the contest. He opened the game on the mound with nine consecutive strikeouts against CSP hitters.  He shutout the Golden Bears while holding them to a pair of hits in the game.
#19 Ricky Apodaca (MINOT) along with going 7-for-17 at the plate as a designated hitter when not pitching, Ricky also cruised in his start on the week, going four scoreless innings without allowing a hit and striking out 7 batters of the 12 outs her recorded in the win.
#13 Matt Graham (USF) was 1-0 with a 1-0 seven-inning complete game shutout of Wayne State on Saturday. She allowed just five hits and had five strikeouts with no walks in the victory. Over his last two starts, he has a 2-0 record, 1.20 era with just two earned runs allowed and nine hits in 15 innings with 13 strikeouts. He is 4-4 on the season.
#6 Ryan Chmielewski (SMSU) tossed his first career 7-inning complete game, allowing just four hits and no earned runs with a career-high 11 strikeouts with two walks in a 7-2 win over Minnesota Crookston on Saturday.
Nicolas Herold (WSU) earned his fifth win of the season with a complete-game effort in a 7-inning win over Upper Iowa University on Sunday. He struck out eight batters in the 7-inning win. He scattered five hits and walked only two. He retired the side in order in the 2nd & 4th innings.


 
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
4/18/22
Player: #7 John Nett  – St. Cloud State
Pitcher: #28 Seth Miller – Augustana
4/26/22
Player: #3 Carter Howell  - Augustana
Pitcher: #21 Luke Tupy - 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 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.