SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana University baseball (11-7, 2-0 NSIC) swept Minot State in an NSIC doubleheader at Karras Park Home of Ronken Field on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings won the opener 11-1 behind 12 strikeouts from Ryan Hamilton and got a walk-off RBI single from Justin Warne in the bottom of the 10th of game two to lift the Vikings to a 6-5 win over the Beavers (4-15, 1-5 NSIC) in the nightcap.
 
Game one
Ryan Hamilton held Minot State hitless through 6.1 innings and allowed just one run on two hits to lead Augustana past Minot State 11-1 in the opener on Saturday. Hamilton struck out a career-high 12 batters to improve to 3-0 on the season on the bump.
 
Augustana matched its season-high with 14 hits, getting a 4 for 4 performance from Lucas Wilber. Wilber hit his third home run of the season and was one of three Vikings to go deep on the afternoon. Justin Warne hit a solo shot and Alex Fink put two over the fence, finishing 2 for 4 with four RBI.
 
Patrick O'Donnell was 2 for 4 with two doubles and Michael Graff finished 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI.
 
The Vikings put up five runs in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to an early lead. O'Donnell doubled to right field with one out in the inning and five pitches later, Fink sent the ball over the fence in right field to put the Vikings in front 2-0. Lucas Wilber drove in a run with an RBI single and Graff pushed two more across with a two-RBI double giving Augustana an early 5-0 lead.
 
As Hamilton made quick work of Minot State the Vikings added a run in the second and third innings. Warne led off the second with a home run and Wilber delivered a one-out solo home run in the third to push Augustana's lead to 7-0.
 
The Vikings added two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead up to 9-0. Patrick Fiala doubled down the right field line to drive in O'Donnell who doubled earlier in the inning. Fiala scored the second run of the inning coming in to score when Alex Beals reached on a fielding error.
 
Fink belted his second home run of the game with nobody out in the bottom of the six to stretch the lead to 11-0.
 
Hamilton stepped onto the mound in the top of the seventh needing just three more outs to complete the no-hitter but Minot State got a one-out single and was able to push across a run in the seventh to make the score 11-1. Hamilton stayed in the game and got the Vikings out of the inning to earn his third win of the season.
 
Game two
Justin Warne hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead Augustana to a 6-5 win over Minot State in game two of a doubleheader.
 
Warne finished game two 4 for 4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Patrick O'Donnell was 3 for 5 with a double and two RBI and Alex Beals finished 2 for 5 with a double and a triple.
 
Collin Lovell earned the win on the mount tossing 2.2 innings not allowing a hit. Michael Letkewicz had a strong outing for the Vikings tossing seven innings and striking out nine while allowing just three hits.
 
After four scoreless innings, Augustana took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Warne reached on a one-out double and came around to score on an RBI single by Alex Fink.
 
The Vikings added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring four runs on five hits to open up a 5-0 lead. Beals doubled down the left field line to lead off the inning and Wilber followed with a single and the Vikings had two runners in scoring position when Wilber moved up to second on a throw to third. Michael Graff singled in Beals to make the score 2-0 and later in the inning Ryan Menssen delivered an RBI single to push to lead to 3-0.
 
Two batters later, O'Donnell cracked a two-RBI double to deep left center to push Augustana's lead to 5-0.
 
Minot State was able to get to Augustana's bullpen in the top of the eighth inning scoring five runs on four hits to tie the game at 5-5.
 
Augustana left a pair of runners on in the bottom half of the eighth and stranded another in the bottom of the ninth sending the game into extra innings.
 
Lucas Barry led off the bottom of the 10th with a walk and advanced into scoring position on a passed ball before stealing third base. Two batters later, Warne picked up his fourth hit of the game to drive in Barry and give Augustana a 6-5 walk-off victory over Minot State in game two.
 
Augustana and Minot State will conclude the four-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. at Karras Park Home of Ronken Field.