SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana Baseball will be back at Karras Park, Home of Ronken Field this weekend to open the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season. The Vikings will host Bemidji Stat for a four-game series, Saturday and Sunday.
 
 
This Weekends Schedule
Saturday, 3/18 – Sioux Falls, S.D. - Game 1 at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, 3/18 – Sioux Falls, S.D. – Game 2 at 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, 3/19 – Sioux Falls, S.D. – Game 1 at Noon
Sunday, 3/19 – Sioux Falls, S.D. - Game 2 at 2 p.m.
 
Quick Hits
• Sam Baier hit his first career home run in game 4 against Truman State. Baier also had his first career multi hit game in game 4 against the Bulldogs
• Patrick O'Donnell hit his first home run of the season in a win against Truman State
• Riley Johnson leads the team with a .353 batting average
• Jacob Blank pitched another 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball to earn win number three. Through 13.1 IP, he has given up just six hits
 
Series History
Augustana has dominated the series against Bemidji State. The Vikings are 19-6 all-time against the Beavers. The Vikings and Beavers met twice last season, neither game was a conference game. Augustana defeated BSU in both games. The Vikings have won five of the last six meetings and have only lost twice since 2009.
 
Augustana Notes and Trends
• Augustana split their 4-game series with Truman State on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Vikings took game one but fell in games two and three before winning the final game of the series
• Patrick O'Donnell and Riley Johnson each hit their first home runs of the season against Truman
• Kris Ashland hit safely in three of the four games against Truman
• Lincoln Voss has won two straight starts for the Vikings
• The Vikings have increased their series hit total in each series this season
• Augustana's pitching staff has been the team's strength this season. The Vikings have a team ERA of 3.70 and have struck out 130 batters this season
• Dalton Lehnen leads the steam in strikeouts with 21. Blank is a close second with 19
 
Bemidji State Notes and Trends
• Bemidji State enters the weekend with a 3-7 record
• The Beavers had lost three straight before a 6-3 win at Pittsburg State on March 15
• As a team Bemidji State has hit five home runs but haven't hit one since March 10
• Noah Boser leads the team with a batting average of .500. Boser has only played in six games this season. Matt Mastantuono has played in all 10 games and has a .333 batting average
• Duane Miller leads the team in RBIs with 11. He is the only player with double-digit RBIs
• The Beavers have had four pitchers start two games. The top ERA amongst starters is 7.71
• BSU has struggled to strikeout hitters this season. As a pitching staff they only have 52 strikeouts in 74.1 innings pitched