BOX SCORE 1 |
BOX SCORE 2 GAME ONE GAME TWO
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Augustana baseball team used a pair of big innings to take down Concordia St. Paul on Sunday night to round out their 4-0 run at the Metrodome. The Vikings took game one by a score of 7-2 and game two 6-2. Augustana wins its sixth consecutive game and improves to 8-5 while the Golden Bears fall to 1-3 on the season.
The Vikings used a six-run inning in each game to create a lead that would hold for the rest of the game.
Tony Viger led Augustana with four hits on the day and three Vikings collected two RBI each.
Game One
Augustana was held scoreless in the first as
Jason Rasmussen was cut down at the plate on a Viger double. Concordia-St. Paul capitalized with a run in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead and the Vikings were held scoreless the next two innings.
Kye Winter used a pair of strikeouts and dour flyouts to keep the Golden Bears off the board in the third and fourth giving the Vikings time to get back into the game. Viger reached on a one-out double and
Nate Hewes drove him in to tie the game with a two-out single.
Concordia-St. Paul plated a run in the top of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead. The Vikings failed to capitalize on a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the fifth and remained down one run.
Bennett Johnson relieved Winter in the top of the sixth and held the Golden Bears scoreless, setting the Vikings up for their big sixth inning.
Back-to-back singles by Viger and Koistinen led off the opened the bottom of the sixth. Hewes moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt before the wheels fell off for CU.
Josh Benson reached when a high-bouncing ball deflected off the first baseman's glove and he reached safely. Viger scored on the play from third.
Patrick O'Donnell replaced Koistinen on the base paths and scored on a wild pitch the next at bat, giving the Vikings a 3-2 lead, but they weren't done yet.
Ben Ludwigson walked, and
Marcus O'Neill singled. The bases were loaded and the Golden Bears were forced to make a pitching change.
Ryan Poppitz, making the first pitching appearance of the year, hit Petersen, scoring Benson, then hit Rasmussen to score Ludwigson.
David Borchardt was hit by the next pitch on an 0-2 count and O'Neill scored to give the Vikings a 6-2 lead on three consecutive hit batsmen.
Replacing O'Donnell was
Troy Pilkington who drew a walk and scored the Vikings' sixth run of the inning, by forcing Petersen across the plate. Hewes ended the inning with a deep fly to center fielded that the CU outfielder corralled.
With a 7-2 lead, Johnson gave up a hit and a single, but closed the door on Concordia-St. Paul's comeback attempt fanning a batter and forcing a groundout to earn the win.
Game Two
Rather than waiting until the latter innings of the game for an explosive inning, eight of the first nine Augustana batters reached safely, using a pair of triples and three hit batsmen. Rasmussen drove in Petersen, who led off the game by wearing a pitch, with a triple down the right-field line.
After Borchardt struck out, Viger tallied an RBI with a single and Winter drove him in with the second Viking triple. Augustana now held a 3-0 lead just five batters into the game. Benson was hit by a pitch and Ludwigson drove Winter in with a single to centerfield.
Following
Zach Dibble, who was the third Viking to be hit by a pitch, O'Neill singled with a dribbler to third and knocked in Benson. To cap off the Vikings' big inning, Petersen singled in Ludwigson, before Rasmussen grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
The Vikings were up 6-0 and failed to score a run the rest of the game, but
Grant Larson scattered eight CU hits while striking out 11 batters and surrendering just one run.
Derek Quame came on to close out the game and surrendered his first run of the season after the Golden Bears led off the seventh inning with a double, eventually scoring to make the final score 6-2.
Winter Ludwigson led the Vikings with two hits apiece and Larson notched his second win of the year.
The Vikings are idle until they trip to Springfield, Mo. for a three-game series with Drury University on March 2 and 3.
