BOX SCORE ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 1 seed St. Cloud State University (34-8) eliminated third-seeded Augustana College (38-18) from the NSIC Tournament, defeating the Vikings 9-3 on Friday afternoon in St. Cloud, Minn.
St. Cloud State finished the game with 18 hits, and scored four runs in the top of the third inning on its way to victory of the Vikings. Augustana finished the game with 10 hits but left nine runners on base.
Nate Hewes was the only Viking to pick up more than one hit in the game, finishing 3-for-4 with two RBI. Among six Viking players with one hit in the game,
Jack Goihl delivered the only extra base hit with a double in the bottom of the fourth inning.
St. Cloud State scored a run in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead over Augustana. In the first, the Huskies plated an unearned run before Phil Imholte delivered an RBI double in the top of the second.
SCSU went for four runs on four hits and one Viking error in the top of the third inning to push its lead to 6-0.
Augustana answered in the bottom half of the third inning scoring two runs on two hits to make the score 6-2. With two outs in the inning,
Jake Petersen walked and
Marcus O'Neill was hit by a pitch before the two combined for a double steal to get into scoring position. Hewes then singled up the middle to drive in both runs.
Petersen sent a sacrifice fly to right field in the fourth to score Goihl, who doubled with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, to bring the Vikings within three at 6-3.
St. Cloud State pushed its lead to 7-3 in the seventh before scoring two runs in the eighth on a two-RBI double by Travis Enger to extend his team's lead to 9-3. The Vikings got a leadoff single in the ninth but a double-play quickly put an end to Augustana's threat.
Augustana was ranked eighth in the latest edition of the NCAA Central Region rankings. The top six teams in the final regional rankings earn a bid to the Central Region Tournament. The NCAA Division II selection show will air at 9 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
