For Immediate Release
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
NSIC Media Relations

NSIC Player of the Week
#8 Jake Hjelle (OF/1B, 6-4, 230, R-Jr., R/R, East Grand Forks, Minn. / East Grand Forks HS) – Minnesota Crookston
- Went 8-of-13 for a .615 batting average in a three game series sweep over Wayne State
- Added five runs scored, two doubles, four home runs, and six RBIs
- Had two games with home runs and is tied for the league lead with eight on the season
- Was 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double and four RBIs in a 21-5 win in game two of the series
- Slashed .615/.643/1.692 for the series 

NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#40 Jonah Lewis (RHP, 6-0, 190, Jr., R/R, Minnetrista, Minn. / Minnetonka HS) – Concordia-St. Paul
- Picked up his first win of the season in a 9-0 win over Bemidji State
- Delivered 7.0 innings of shutout ball, allowing three hits and two walks
- Matched a career high with nine strikeouts and held the Beavers to a .125 batting average

Other Top Performances - Player
Sam Siegel (AUGIE) went 4-for-6 in Augustana's series sweep against SMSU. He hit his first home run as a Viking in AU's 8-4 win over SMSU. He totaled four RBI and held a batting average of .667.
#11 James Wirt  (BSU) batted .300 in the Beaver’s NSIC opening series against Concordia-St. Paul. He totaled three hits in 10 at bats with one double and tied for the team lead with two RBI. Drew two walks, had one sacrifice hit and struck out just once. Had an on-base percentage of .417 and slugging percentage of .400 for an OPS of .817.
#30 Bryce Nelson (CSP) went 7-for-16 over five games, slashing .438/.500/.625. He recorded a pair of extra base hits with a double and a triple against Bemidji State. He drove in five runs and scored five times while adding two stolen bases. He tallied three multi-hit games, which included a 3-4 outing against Minnesota Duluth. 
#17 Daniel Martin (UMary) helped the Marauders take 2-of-3 games at Upper Iowa to open NSIC play. He was 5-for-10 with a double, five runs scored and three RBIs. He slashed .500/.625/.600 with an OPS of 1.225. For the season, he is hitting .373/.461/.587 in his first year at UMary.
Jackson Hauge (MSU) scored a run on three hits this weekend, diving in three.  He added a triple as he improved his batting average to .309 for the season. 
#28 Mark Ossanna (MINOT) led the offense in a 3-game sweep of Sioux Falls, hitting safely in each game and blasting 3 home runs for the Beavers. He was 5-for-12 at the plate with 2 walks, stole a base, and defensively had 3 putouts without and error.
#32 Garrett Bevacqua (SCSU) played a huge role in the Huskies lineup producing 49 runs over four games last week, slashing .429/.438/.571 for a 1.009 OPS with a whopping nine RBI. He was 6-for-14 at the plate with a pair of doubles and scored one run.
#37 Mason Trocke (WSU) was 5-for-16 for a .313 batting average over a four game stretch. He added three runs, and RBI with two doubles.  He was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in a 5-3 win over UMD, as the Warriors took two of three in the series. 

Other Top Performances - Pitcher
#48 Caleb Saari  (AUGIE) pitched 5.1 innings and held opponents to just three hits in Augustana's 2-1 win against SMSU. Had an ERA of 1.69.
#32 Konrad Kisch  (BSU) made one appearance in the Beavers opening series with Concordia-St. Paul and pitched three innings of shutout baseball and held the Golden Bears to just two hits and two walks while striking out three.
#10 Austin Wagner (UMary) earned his third win of the season without a loss in a 6-2 Marauders win over the Peacocks. He allowed one run on five hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out 4 and didn't walk a batter. In 24 innings this season Wagner hasn't walked a batter and has struck out 15.
Jake Dykhoff (UMC) picked up the win Sunday against Wayne State as he tossed seven innings, allowing just three runs on five hits. Dykhoff struck out seven and walked just three. He has allowed just four earned runs in his last 21 innings, striking out 25 and walking just seven.
#4 Nathan Culley (MSU) went 6.0 innings in a seven-inning doubleheader, compiling nine strikeouts.  With the win over NSU he improved to 4-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.91 in the season. 
Trevyn Badger (MINOT) dominated on the hill in the Beavers 10-3 win over Sioux Falls, striking out a career-high 10 batters and allowing just 3 runs on 5 hits in a complete-game win, holding Minot State in the game before the Beavers scored 9 runs in the final two innings to break the game open.
#21 Luke Tupy (SCSU) struck out seven over 4.0 scoreless innings of work in his season debut. He scattered two hits and a pair of walks to earn the win over Caldwell. He did not allow a runner to reach third base, bouncing back after opening his day with a pair of walks to retire 12 of the final 14 batters he faced.
#19 Kyle Gendron (WSU) came on in relief to pick up a win over Minnesota Duluth in a 7-3 ballgame on March 20. He faced eight batters in two innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out two. He entered the game at a key time and held the UMD offense to no runs after the Warriors scored six in the sixth to earn the win.

NSIC Baseball Players of the Week
2/7/23
Player: #7 John Nett – St. Cloud State
Pitcher: #26 Riley Ahern – St. Cloud State 
2/14/23
Player: #7 John Nett – St. Cloud State (2)
Pitcher: #13 Bryant Bagshaw - Minot State 
2/21/23
Player: #23 Jack Hines - Augustana
Pitcher: #13 Bryant Bagshaw - Minot State (2)
2/27/23
Player: #3 Trevor Winterstein - Augustana
Pitcher: #37 Ryan Jares  - Augustana
3/6/23
Player: #28 Mark Ossanna - Minot State
Pitcher: #33 Jake Dykhoff - Minnesota Crookston 
3/13/23
Player: #2 Keenan Wenzel - SMSU
Pitcher: #17 Ansen Dulas - SMSU
3/21/23
Player: #8 Jake Hjelle – Minnesota Crookston
Pitcher: #40 Jonah Lewis – Concordia-St. Paul

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 105 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.