ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The Augustana University baseball team (22-10, 13-3 NSIC) was locked in from game one on Sunday as both pitching and hitting shined, as the Vikings were able to upset and sweep No. 1 St. Cloud State (28-4, 13-4 NSIC) 8-3 in game one and 5-1 in game two.
Game OneAugustana baseball once again found offensive success in the first inning, jumping on No. 1 St. Cloud State, and the top rated statistical pitcher in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference early to grab an 8-3 victory over the Huskies.
St. Cloud's Sheldon Miks entered the game with an impressive 1.03 ERA and a 6-1 record, but the Vikings offense didn't care as they tattooed Miks from the start. Augustana's offense scored eight runs and collected nine hits against Miks, the second most hits and the most runs he has allowed this season.
Augustana's
Ryan Hamilton looked like the top pitcher in the NSIC once again, pitching his third complete game of the season. In seven innings of work Hamilton surrendered just four hits and three runs while striking out four to win his fifth game of the season.
The first run of the game was driven in off the bat of
Patrick Fiala who was able to reach on an error by the right fielder which allowed
Justin Warne to score. Warne reached base on an error by the catcher after striking out. The Vikings scored again one batter later when
Lucas Barry singled, scoring
Patrick O'Donnell.
St. Cloud State got a run back in the bottom of the first inning on a sac fly. The Vikings went scoreless i the second but SCSU was able to grab the lead in the bottom half of the inning to take a 3-2 lead on a 2-run home run from Zach Hoffman.
Augustana tied the game in the third when
Alex Beals hit an RBI single, scoring Fink. Fink reached base on a double.
The Vikings regained the lead in the fourth with just two swings of the bat.
TJ Davis led off the inning and sent a pitch deep over the outfield wall to give the Vikings a one run lead. The very next batter,
Tyler Field, also sent a pitch deep over the outfield fence giving Augustana a 5-3 lead.
With one out in the fourth inning, Fiala earned a double to get into scoring position. Next batter up was Beals and he sent a 2-run shot over the fences, giving the Vikings a 7-3 lead. Later in the inning
Lucas Wilber reached on an error by the second baseman, and advanced to second allowing Davis to score to make it 8-3 Vikings. The Vikings defense clamped down from the third inning on not allowing the Huskie to score, and holding onto an 8-3 win in game one of Sunday's doubleheader.
Pitchers of RecordWin -
Ryan Hamilton (5-0): 7 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Loss - Sheldon Miks (6-2): 4.2 IP, 9 hits, 8 runs, 5 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
Viking Notables• This is Augustana's first win in program history against the No. 1 ranked team in the country. The Vikings had lost their previous four match-ups, all against SCSU
• This was the Vikings 30th career victory over SCSU
• The win snaps a 4-game losing streak to the Huskies
• The Vikings improved to 12-19 all-time on the road against SCSU
• This was head coach
Tim Huber's 14th all-time win against SCSU
• Augustana earned their first win over a top-5 team this season
• Augustana turned one double play
• The Vikings left seven runners on base
• Fink, Fiala and Davis each hit doubles in game one
• Beals hit his sixth home run of the season
• Davis hit his fourth home run of the season
• Field hit his fifth home run of the year
Â
Game TwoMichael Letkewicz was on fire in game two as he helped lead the Vikings to victory. Letkewicz pitched seven incredible innings of one run ball while only giving up six hits, two walks and striking out five.
For the first time in this four game series, Augustana failed to score in the first inning but SCSU did, grabbing an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Karl Sorensen.
It didn't take long for the Vikings to get on the scoreboard though as they tied the game at one in the second inning. After Fiala doubled to lead off the second, Barry singled up the middle to score Fiala and tie the game at 1.
After not scoring in the third, the Vikings took the lead in the fourth. Fiala led off the inning with a single and advanced to third on a Beals double. Barry then hit the Vikings second consecutive double to score Fiala. Following a Davis walk and Field strikeout, Wilber struck out but the ball went to the backstop allowing him to reach base and Beals to score.
Later in the inning the Vikings were helped out once again by an SCSU error as Warne reached base on an error by the shortstop to make it 4-1 Augustana.
Augustana added an insurance run in the sixth inning when Wilber hit a double to the left center field gap that allowed Field to score all the way from first and give the Vikings a 5-1 lead. In the bottom half of the inning with two out and a runner on second the Huskies attempted to score Reese Gregory from second on a single. Field had other ideas as he threw a perfect strike to his cutoff man from left field to gun Gregory at home and keep the score 5-1.
In the eighth inning the Vikings made a pitching change and brought in
Zach Reeg. The Huskies started with a single and were aided by an error and a walk to get the bases loaded with one out.
Just when it looked like the Huskies were going to make a run, Reeg stepped up and got a ground ball right back to him. Reeg tossed it to Davis at home to get the lead runner and then completed the 1-2-3 double play by getting the batter at first and getting out of a late jam. Reeg was able to shut the Huskies down in the ninth as well and preserve a 5-1 Sunday sweep over the number one ranked Huskies.
Pitchers of RecordWin -
Michael Letkewicz (3-1): 7 IP, 1 run, 1 earned run, 6 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Loss - Kevin Bolder (5-1): 5 IP, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 7 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
Viking Notables• Augustana is the first team this season to beat the Huskies twice
• With the win the Vikings are in sole possession of first place in the NSIC
• This is the first time this season that SCSU has lost back-to-back games
• The one run that Augustana held SCSU to was the Huskies lowest run total of the season
• Augustana is the first team since 2014 to beat SCSU twice in a row
• Augustana left 11 runners on base
• Fiala, Beals, Barry and Wilber each hit doubles
• This was the first game this series that neither team hit a home run
Up NextAugustana will be on the road for a midweek match-up with Winona State. The first pitch against the Warriors on April 20 is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
--- GoAugie.com ---
