ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The Augustana University baseball team (37-22) had their season come to an end on Friday. The Vikings fell to the University of Minnesota Duluth 11-8 in Friday's NSIC Tournament elimination game.
Augustana fell behind the Bulldogs (26-27) early in the first inning after UMD hit a three-run home run to dead center.

In the bottom half of the first inning, Sam Baier got things going with a double to right center. After advancing to third on a Patrick O'Donnell ground, Baier scored when Lucas Barry singled to second, pulling the Vikings to within one. Later in the inning, Augustana scored two runs on two UMD wild pitches, tying the game at three.

The runs continued in the bottom of the first inning when Kris Ashland hit a two-run home run to left, giving the Vikings a 5-3 lead.

In the top of the second inning, Minnesota Duluth regained the lead when they scored three runs to make it 6-5 Bulldogs. UMD tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 8-5.

The Vikings cut into the Bulldog lead in the fifth when Ford Schroeder grounded out to the shortstop to drive in O'Donnell who walked earlier in the inning and making the score 8-6 UMD. The Bulldogs regained their three-run lead in the top of the sixth with a single to center.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Vikings again cut the deficit to two runs when Riley Johnson singled to score Tyler Field. Au unfortunate lineout double play ended the inning with a runner on third and the score 9-7.  The Bulldogs added two runs in the eighth and the Vikings were only able to score a run in their last two at-bats, falling 11-8.

Pitchers of Record
Win - Jalen Busker (2-2): 3.2 IP, 1 earned run, 3 hits, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks
Loss - Lincoln Voss (5-4): 4 IP, 8 runs, 5 earned runs, 10 hits, 1 strikeouts, 1 walk

Viking Notables
• The Vikings had 12 hits in the game
• Baier and Barry each had doubles
• Ashland led the team with two RBIs
• This was the second straight season the Vikings season came to an end in the conference tournament by UMD