BOX SCORE

TUCSON, Ariz. – Powered by another terrific starting pitching performance, the Augustana baseball team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 10-8 win on Monday night, its sixth straight. The victory got the Vikings back to .500 at 6-6 on the season, while the Chaps fell to 10-13 with the loss.

Augustana kept its unbeaten streak (6-0) going on its spring trip with the win in what turned out to be a high-scoring affair between the two teams.

Tyler Field (1-1) recorded his first victory of the year, tossing six scoreless innings in the game. Field gave up just three hits and had four strikeouts.

Alex Fink got the breakout game he has been searching for, going 2 for 4 with a three RBI and two runs scored, both season highs. The first baseman also had the highlight of the game, a three-run homer in the third inning.

Bryce Berg had a season-high two RBI in the win.

Back-to-back singles by Patrick Fiala and Fink to open the top of the second inning put the Vikings in scoring position. Two batters later, Berg delivered at the plate with a two-run double to right field. Augustana added two more runs in the inning, the last coming from a two-out RBI single by Marcus O'Neill that drove in Berg.

The Vikings got three runs in the top half of the third with a three-run shot by Fink to right field to make it a seven-run game. The home run was the first of the year for the Springfield, Minn. native, and upped his RBI total to five on the season.

Field kept his strong start going, getting his second straight 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third inning, keeping his one-hitter intact.

Augustana got another run on a double down the left field line by Justin Warne in the top of the sixth that drove in Ryne Lees from second base to make it 8-0. The double was the first extra-base hit of the year for Warne.

LCU broke its six-inning scoreless streak in the bottom half of the seventh, getting four runs across the plate to make it an 8-4 game. Lubbock Christian got its four runs on four hits with two errors by the Vikings in the field.

Augustana responded in the top of the eighth to put this one out of reach, scoring two runs off a two-run single by Josh Benson to make it 10-4, giving the Vikings their third game of recording double-digit runs in Tucson.

The Chaps made a rally late in the bottom of the ninth, scoring four runs to cut the Augustana lead to two with no outs at 10-8. But that would be all LCU could muster up due to some clutch pitching by senior Troy Pilkington, in for Cole Milbrath, to get the Vikings the win and pick up his first save of the year.

Augustana is back for a doubleheader on Tuesday with Valley City State. Game one is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT.