GAME ONE BOX  |  GAME TWO BOX

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Augustana baseball team picked up its first two wins (19-1, 14-0) of 2015 with a sweep of Bemidji State in a doubleheader on Thursday night at the Mino Sports Complex. The Vikings improved to 2-6 on the season, while the Beavers fell to 3-10.

Game One

Augustana got the breakout game at the plate it had been looking for in a 19-1 victory, its first of the year.

The Vikings' 19 runs, a season high, nearly doubled their total from the first six games of the season.

Jacob James crushed his first collegiate home run in the win. James finished up the game going 1 for 2 with one RBI and two runs scored.

Jack Goihl went a perfect 2 for 2 at the plate. Goihl also had three runs scored and three RBI, both season highs.

Kris Ashland continued his breakout year by going 2 for 3 with one RBI and three runs scored.

Colton Vien (1-1) picked up his first collegiate win. Vien went five innings, giving up just one run on four hits and only one walk.

The Vikings got off to the start they were looking for in top of the first inning, getting their first two guys on base with no outs. But a ground ball by Patrick Fiala resulted in a 5-3 ground-ball double play and two outs. Augustana again got runners on first and second a few batters later, but Alex Fink ended the inning by striking out at the plate.

Augustana got on the scoreboard with a leadoff home run by James in the bottom of the third – the first of the sophomore's collegiate career. James' solo shot sparked an eruption of runs for the Vikings' offense – something they had been looking for after a slow start to the year. Lucas Wilber capped off the 13-run inning with a RBI single to second base that scored Lucas Barry with two outs.

Vien saw his streak of retiring opposing batters end at nine with two outs in the top half of the fourth after a walk to Scott Litchy with two outs. The junior immediately got BSU's next hitter, Dylan Webb, to fly out to end the inning.

A ground out to second base by Wilber that drove in Ashland from third base closed another high-scoring inning at the plate for the Augustana in the fourth, which scored six runs and pushed its lead to 19. For the inning, the Vikings had six runs on four hits.

Bemidji State got its lone run of the game in the top of the fifth inning, ending Vien's bid at a shutout in his second career start after a triple by Mason Bellew. He ended up scoring after a throwing error by James from left field on the play.

Augustana never let the Beavers come close the rest of the way, taking game one 19-1.

Game Two

The Vikings kept up their high-scoring ways from game one, scoring in double digits for a second straight game in a 14-0 shutout win.

Augustana drove in its 14 runs on 16 hits, a new season high.

Ryne Lees (1-0), making his first collegiate start, gave a stellar performance on the bump, tossing a three-hit, complete-game shutout. Lees also added eight strikeouts, the most by a Vikings pitcher this year.

Fiala was the star of the contest, turning in his best game at the plate this season with four hits and five RBI, both season highs. The third baseman highlighted his night by hitting his first home run of the season.

TJ Davis had a career-high four hits in five at bats to go along with a RBI.

Augustana jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second. Fiala's two-RBI bases-clearing triple with two outs highlighted the big inning at the plate for the Vikings.

Lees kept BSU scoreless through three innings after retiring the side in the bottom of the third inning, upping his total to four straight batters retired in the game. The Rapid City, S.D. native really was dialed in early, holding Bemidji State to just one hit in his first three innings of work.

The Vikings tacked on two more runs to extend their lead to six in the bottom half of the fourth after RBI hits by Fiala and Bryce Berg. Fiala got his third RBI of the contest with a double to left center and Berg got his with a single up the middle of the infield.

Fiala turned in the play of the night with his two-run blast in the top of the fifth inning to make it 9-0 in favor of Augustana. The home run was the fourth hit of the night for the right-handed junior.

Augustana would add five more runs late in the final two innings en route to the 14-0 win.

The Vikings return to the diamond tomorrow for a game against Southwest Minnesota State. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. CT.