ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Augustana baseball (36-20) earned a first round win in the NSIC Tournament on Wednesday. The Vikings defeated No. 7 Concordia-St. Paul 11-2 and will play St. Cloud State in the second on Thursday at 4 p.m.

The Vikings got a great start on the mound from Dalton Lehnen who pitched seven innings solid innings. Lehnen picked up five strikeouts while allowing just one hit and one run on his way to his third win of the season.

After a quick inning for both teams in the first, the Vikings got on the board first in the second scoring four runs. The Vikings scored two early runs after a walk and hit by a pitch with the bases loaded scored two. Later in the inning, Sam Baier drove in the other two runs with a single to left, making 4-0.

The Golden Bears scored one in the third but the Vikings erupted for five runs in the fifth. Kris Ashland reached base on an error by the shortstop that scored one. That was followed by a ground out by Ford Schroeder that scored one. The Vikings took an 8-1 lead after Lucas Barry hit a 2-RBI double. The Vikings final run of the inning came on a Tyler Field single.

Augustana added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-1. Concordia-St. Paul scored one in the eighth but it wasn't enough as Augustana cruised o an 11-2 win.

Pitchers of Record
Win - Dalton Lehnen (3-3): 7IP, 1 earned run, 1 hit, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks
Loss - Kevin Woebke (3-4): 4.2 IP, 9 runs, 7 earned runs, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks

Viking Notables
• The Vikings had three extra-base hits in the game. All three were doubles
• Ashland, Baier, and Barry each drove in a team-high 2 RBIs
• The Vikings left seven runners on base
• Augustana struck out four times
• Jasper Elfrink threw one inning of relief and allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts
• Zach Reeg pitched the final inning and went one inning with three strikeouts and zero hits

Up Next
No. 2 Augustana will play tomorrow afternoon against No. 3 St. Cloud State at 4 p.m. on Putz Field. If the Vikings win they will play on Friday the 12, but if they lose they will play 45 minutes after the conclusion against SCSU and will take on the winner of Minnesota Crookston Minot State.