BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference released their weekly baseball release and Concordia-St. Paul's Bennett McCollow was named the NSIC Player of the Week. This is the junior's first time to earn this honor in his career, and he joins Nick Thimsen and Mason Nadolney as the third Golden Bear to receive the honor this season.
 
The Bloomington, Minnesota native had a phenomenal week at the plate after collecting nine hits, including four home runs, a triple and a double. He is the first player since Eric Fasnacht in 2016 to hit for the cycle in game two against Minnesota Duluth, and he added a grand slam in the win against Sioux Falls.
 
NSIC Player of the Week
#21 Bennett McCollow (IF, 5-10, 190, Jr., R/R, Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson HS) – Concordia-St. Paul
- Slashed .692/.733/1.846 in a 3-0 week against Minnesota Duluth and Sioux Falls
- Was efficient at the plate after going 9-13 with four home runs, a triple and a double
- Hit for the cycle in game two against Minnesota Duluth and added a grand slam against Sioux Falls
- Drove in eight runners, scored eight times and collected a pair of walks for the Golden Bears
 
NSIC Pitcher of the Week
#30 J.D. Hennen (RHP, 6-0, 205, So., R/R, Alexandria, Minn. / Alexandria Area HS) – Augustana
- Threw a complete-game one hitter to help the Vikings earn a 2-0 victory over Northern State
- Struck out eight in his second complete game of the season
- Threw his first career shutout while allowing an opponents batting average of .045
- Brought the Augustana shutout total to 12, the highest total among all NCAA programs
 
Other Top Performances - Player
Tate Meiners (AUGIE)
- Helped the Vikings go 5-0 on their way to an NSIC regular season title
- Went 10 for 16 with two doubles, two home runs, eight runs scored, nine RBIs and two walks
- Slashed .625/.714/1.250 for an OPS of 1.964
- Multiple hits in three games, including a pair of three-hit games
- Also held a 1.000 fielding percentage while playing 2B, 3B, LF and RF
- Went 6 for 8 with four runs scored, two home runs and seven RBI in the final two games against Minot State
- Moved his slash line to .400/.500/.847 in NSIC action
Carter Beck (UMary)
- Went 9-for-18 with 4 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs in five games with 6 RBIs and 5 runs scored
- Slash line of .500/.550/.1.167 with a 1.717 OPS
- Had at least one hit in each game and multiple hits in three games
- Was 3-for-3 with a double, triple and home run with two RBIs in game 1 at UMC
- Closed fabulous freshman season with two hits, two RBIs and a double in each of the last two games of the season at UMD
Teddy Giefer (UMC)
- Hit .412 in five games
- Scored eight runs and had four RBI, with one home run
- Notched two doubles
- Was 2-of-4, with a home run, three runs scored, and two RBI in Saturday's victory over NSU
- Was 2-of-4, with two runs scored in the Game 2 victory Friday versus the Wolves
- Had two RBI in a Game 1 victory Wednesday against UMary
Jack Puder (UMD)
Went 8-17 (.471), 3 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI over five games last week
- Knocked in three RBI doubles for UMD's first three runs in win over MARY in final game of the season
- Holds a .962 FLD% with 10 PO, 15 A, 1 E, 26 TO
Zach Stroh (MSU)
- Led the Mavericks to a pair of road wins over SW Minnesota State over the weekend
- Totaled eight hits, including a pair of home runs with 10 runs batted in
- In game two Saturday, Stroh's solo home run in the top of the eighth inning was the go-ahead run
- This season, is hitting .376 with 11 doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 54 RBI
- Against Wayne State on Wednesday, Stroh went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three walks
Chase McDaniel (SMSU)
- Batted .400 (10 for 25) in five games with one home run, five RBIs and 13 total bases
- Had three hits in SMSU's doubleheader split with Sioux Falls on Wednesday
- Collected seven hits, with a pair of three-hit games in three games versus Minnesota State
- Went 3 for 6 with four RBIs, including a two-run home run and a walk-off RBI single versus MSU
- The victory over MSU snapped a 19-game losing streak in the series
- Led SMSU during the regular season in batting average, runs, doubles, RBIs and set a school record with 86 hits
 
Other Top Performances - Pitcher
Ryan Chamberlain (UMary)
- Pitched 8.0 innings in the Marauders 7-2 at Minnesota Duluth to claim a NSIC tournament berth
- Struck out six while allowing just two runs, seven hits and no walks
- Second straight game pitching 8.0 innings and third straight winning start
- In his last three games he has pitched 24.0 innings and has allowed seven runs, 21 hits and two walks while striking out 20
Jake Osowski (UMC)
- Set the school record for wins in a season, moving to 9-0
- Pitched a complete game against Northern State, allowing just one run on five hits
- Had five strikeouts, and no walks in the victory
- Owns a 3.68 ERA in 14 appearances this season, striking out 65, and walking just 22
Henry Wilkinson (UMD)
- Went 7.0 innings allowing no runs with five hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts
- Shut out the Marauders in final game of the regular season
- Recorded his third win of the 2024 season
Brenden Baxter (NSU)
- In 7.0 innings pitched recorded an ERA of 2.57
- Tallied three strikeouts while allowing only four hits against 25 batters
- Held hitters to a .182 batting average in a complete game against #18 Augustana
Cameron Jensen (SMSU)
- Was outstanding in two relief appearances last week
- Earned the victory in SMSU's first win over Minnesota State in 19 games (2014)
- Fired 7.1 combined shutout innings versus Sioux Falls and MSU with eight strikeouts and one walk
- Allowed just four hits
- Tossed a career-high 4.1 innings with three strikeouts and no walks in SMSU's 10-9 nine-inning walk-off victory over MSU
 
Men's Baseball Pages
AUGIE | BSU | CSP | UMARY | UMC | UMD | MSU
MINOT | NSU | USF | SMSU | SCSU | WSC | WSU
 
NSIC Baseball Players of the Week
2/13/24
Player: #4 Trey Wells – Wayne State  
Pitcher:  #12 Corbin Kirk – Wayne State
2/20/24
Player: #19 Mason Nadolney – Concordia-St. Paul
Pitcher: #21 Luke Tupy – St. Cloud State
2/27/24
Player: #2 Cal James – St. Cloud State
Pitcher: #26 Owen Weadge – Sioux Falls
3/4/24
Player: #2 Keenan Wenzel  - SMSU
Pitcher: #8 Ashton Michek  – Augustana
3/12/24
Player: #23 Jack Hines - Augustana
Pitcher: #48 Caleb Saari - Augustana
3/18/24
Player: #29 Noah Hull - UMary
Pitcher: #21 Luke Tupy – St. Cloud State (2)
3/25/24
Player: #23 Nick Thimsen – Concordia-St. Paul
Pitcher: #23 Peter Tveite – Winona State
4/1/24
Player: #1 Isaac Nett - SMSU
Pitcher: #33 Pierce Gritzmaker  - Winona State
4/8/24
Player: #23 Jack Hines - Augustana (2)
Pitcher: #48 Caleb Saari - Augustana (2)
4/15/24
Player: #12 Chase McDaniel – SMSU
Pitcher: #49 Mariano Gomez – Augustana
4/22/24
Player: #17 Nicholas Ochoa – Northern State
Pitcher: #24 Lukas Frers - University of Mary
4/30/24
Player: #2 Kalem Haney - UMary
Pitcher: #48 Caleb Saari - Augustana (3)
5/6/24
Player: #21 Bennett McCollow  – Concordia-St. Paul
Pitcher: #30 J.D. Hennen – Augustana
 
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 27 team national championships and crowned 113 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.
 
#NSICBase