Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
On a windy and dusty day at Ronken Field, the Augustana Vikings suffered a two-game sweep to conference opponent Wayne State. The Wildcats tallied a total of 16 hits on the day, beating the Vikings 12-1 and 8-0.
Wayne State (17-14, 12-3 NSIC) scored at least one run in all innings except the first during game one. The Vikings (22-18, 9-7) scored their only run of the day in that inning, when
Nate Baumann was hit by a pitch before stealing second. He was brought home on a single by
Deryk Marks.
The Wildcats then went on to put together a 3-run second inning. John Plasha led off with a walk and scored on the triple to center field by Mike Bisenius. Two more runs in the inning gave Wayne State a 3-1 jump on the Vikings.
Augie couldn't generate any offense from that point on, and game two was more of the same story.
Wayne State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first and continued to hit the ball well, but was also helped along by five walks and six hit batters by the Augustana pitching staff.
The big inning in game two was the fourth, thanks to a three-run homer by Joe Wendte, which cleared the fence despite the breeze blowing in towards home plate.
Augustana went through seven pitchers in the two contests, who tallied a total of eight hit batters.
“Our energy is down,” Baumann said. “Baseball is one of those games where sometimes you can do no wrong and other times it feels like there is no way to get out of the rut you're in. It's pretty obvious we're in a rut right now and we just need to stay up and get the next one.”
The Vikings, who have lost nine of their last seven games, also committed a total of six errors on the day.
“It's been a rough stretch the last few games,” head coach
Tim Huber said. “Hopefully we come ready to play and have a better weekend in St. Cloud.”
Augie will have the chance for that this weekend as they travel to St. Cloud, Minn. for a four-game series with St. Cloud State.
