SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 22 Augustana baseball (31-11, 22-4 NSIC) scored runs in bunches Friday afternoon against Upper Iowa (14-25, 10-18 NSIC) as they defeated the Peacocks 19-4 in game one and 17-7 in game two.
GAME ONE
Augustana scored early and scored in every inning of game one. The Vikings got on the board first in the first inning when
Patrick O'Donnell hit a home run to right field. In the second inning they made it 2-0 after
Lucas Wilber hit a sacrifice fly to center field scoring
Lucas Barry.
Upper Iowa then tied the game in the third inning when Luis Ravelo hit a triple to center field for an RBI. Ravelo scored on the same play when the Vikings threw the ball into the Peacocks dugout, awarding Ravelo with the free base.
The Vikings took over the game in the bottom of the third inning and then again in the fourth as they scoored nine runs over the two innings. In the third, their first run came on an
Alex Fink single that was aided by a throwing error by the shortstop that allowed both O'Donnell and
Justin Warne to score. Fink then scored on a Barry sac fly. Later in the inning
Patrick Fiala scored on a wild pitch and
TJ Davis scored on a
Lucas Wilber single.
Augustana scored five insurance runs in the fourth inning the first on a double by Fink that drove in O'Donnell. The Vikings then made it 9-2 when Barry singled up the middle scoring Fink and advancing Fiala to third. Their final two runs came on a fielder's choice for Davis that scored Fiala and then a single from Wilber that scored Davis.
The Vikings added eight runs to their lead in the fifth and sixth innings that included a 2-run home run from Fiala in the fifth. Augustana then took game one by a score of 19-4.
Pitchers of Record
Win –
Michael Letkewicz (5-1): 5 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Loss – Tyus Adkins (4-4): 4 IP, 12 hits, 11 runs, 4 earned runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts
Vikings Notables
• Fink's four hits in the game brought him to within four hits of becoming the Vikings all-time hits leader
• O'Donnell's home run was his third bomb in his last two games
• Fink,
Alex Beals and
Michael Graff each doubled
• O'Donnell and Fiala each homered
• Beals, Barry and Wilber each earned sacrifice flies
• Fink earned a stolen base
• Davis was hit-by-a-pitch
GAME TWO
It took the Vikings three innings to get on the board ion game stranding two runners in the first and another in the second but once they scored their first run, the runs just kept coming.
Identical to game one, it was O'Donnell who powered the Vikings to their first run, launching his second home run of the day. They scored again later in the inning when Beals singled up the middle to score Fink.
After Upper Iowa tied the game at two in the fourth, the Vikings exploded for 13 runs in the bottom of the fourth. The first three runs came on a double from Warne that score two and a single from O'Donnell that scored one. Fiala then drew a walk but the catcher tried to throw out Fink a second and threw it to center field allowing Fink to move to third, Fiala to second and O'Donnell to score. The remainder of the Viking runs in the inning came on four singles, a fielder choice and another home run from O'Donnell to make it 15-2 Vikings.
Upper Iowa got a rally going in the sixth scoring four runs but the Vikings were able to a run back in the sixth on an O'Donnell double that scored
Jacob James. Upper Iowa then got a homer in the seventh but
Carter Wevik singled to center in the eighth scoring James and giving the Vikings a 10-run lead and ending the game by a score of 17-7.
Pitchers of Record
Win -
Lincoln Voss (4-2): 6 IP, 7 hits, 6 runs, 6 earned runs, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Loss – Zach Carstens (2-4): 3.1 IP, 11 hits, 13 runs, 6 earned runs, 4 walks, 2 strikeouts
Vikings Notables
• Fink's three hits in game two tied him for the most hits in program history
• O'Donnell has now homered five times in the last three games
• Warne, O'Donnell and James all doubled
•
Rafael Eigenmann and James were each hit by a pitch
Up Next
Augustana and Upper Iowa will back on the field Sunday to close out their four game series with the first pitch scheduled for noon. The Vikings will be honoring their eight seniors in between games on Sunday.
