SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Augustana baseball won their first series of the 2017 season Saturday afternoon. Augustana's Alex Beals came through in the clutch, giving the Vikings a 6-5 walk-off victory over Newman University in the final game of their 3-game series.

Beals, a senior infielder from Riverdale, Iowa, was the hero Saturday afternoon. With the bases loaded and no outs, Beals sent a ball to deep center field that allowed Patrick O'Donnell to tag up and score, giving the Vikings the win. On the afternoon Beals was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk.

The Vikings struck first in the bottom of the first when Kris Ashland hit a sac fly to right that allowed Riley Johnson to score. Johnson led off the inning with a base hit up the middle.

Newman took a 2-1 lead in the third on a single through the left side by Brian Canfield scoring one and then Aaron Mack got hit by a pitch which allowed Canfield to score. The Jets extended their lead in the fourth to 4-1 when a Viking throwing error on a Nick Griffin single allowed two runs to come across and score.

Augustana began their comeback in the fifth inning when O'Donnell singled down the left field line scoring Jacob James who drew a walk earlier in the inning. Ashland then earned his second RBI of the game when he singled to right field scoring Tyler Field.

In the sixth, the Vikings tied the game at four on a James groundout to short that drove in Beals. Augustana took their first lead since the first inning in the seventh when Beals grounded out to the first baseman, allowing O'Donnell to score from third.

Newman tied the game in the eighth on a RBI groundout to third. The tie game didn't last long. After O'Donnell led off the ninth with a single to third, Ashland drew a walk and Trent Herman earned a pinch-hit walk to load the bases. Beals then sent a shot to center that allowed O'Donnell to score, giving the Vikings a 6-5 win.

Pitchers of Record
Win - Lincoln Voss (1-1): 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
Loss - Matt Riney (1-1): 2.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts

Viking Notables
• The Vikings improved to 4-3 all-time against Newman University and 2-1 against them in Sioux Falls
• Head coach Tim Huber earned his 280th Division II win
• The Vikings tied a season-high with 11 hits
• Ryan Hamilton made his first start of the season. Hamilton went 2.2 innings giving up three hits and two earned runs while striking out one
• Collin Lovell pitched four innings in relief giving up just one earned run and striking out four
• This was Johnson's first career multi-hit game
• Field has now doubled in back-to-back games

Up Next
Augustana will be back at home next weekend when they close out the non-conference schedule by hosting Truman State. Augustana and Truman State will play a doubleheader on both Saturday and Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for noon on both days.