SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana baseball team will begin its 2018 season by traveling to warm and sunny Hilo, Hawaii for a four-game series against Hawaii-Hilo.

The Vikings and Vulcans will open the season on Thursday, Feb. 1 with a single game at 10 p.m. (CT). On Friday, Feb. 2, the two teams will play a doubleheader with the first game beginning at 8 p.m. (CT). The teams will wrap up the series Saturday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. (CT).

Augustana Notes
• This is the second straight season the Vikings will begin their season in Hawaii. Last season the Vikings traveled to Waipahu, Hawaii to take on Hawaii Pacific, going 1-4 on the trip
• Last season the Vikings went 1-4 against Hawaii Pacific to open the 2017 campaign
• Augustana owns an all-time record of 5-17 playing in Hawaii. The Vikings are 2-12 against Hawaii Pacific and 3-5 against Hawaii Hilo
• Augustana is coming off the eighth straight 30 win season after going 37-22 a year ago
• The Vikings finished second in the NSIC last season with a record of 29-11, the most conference wins in school history
• Augustana's 2017 campaign came to an end in the NSIC tournament after going 2-2
• Augustana was picked to finished 2nd in the NSIC behind Minnesota State
• In the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Augustana pitcher Dalton Lehnen was drafted in the 6th round (182nd pick) by the New York Yankees. Lehnen became the highest Viking drafted in program history and was the ninth player (fifth under Coach Huber) drafted from Augustana
• Head coach Tim Huber returns five starting position players and one starting pitcher from last year's 37-22 (29-11 NSIC) squad that finished second in the NSIC regular season standings. Huber enters his 10th season as Augustana's head coach and has a record of 313-180
• Jacob Blank highlights the returning starters for Augustana. Last season, Blank a senior from Gretna, Neb, went 10-0 last season with a NCAA-best ERA of 0.78 and recorded the second most strikeouts in a single season for Augustana with 86 punch outs. Blank earned a slew of awards last season including D2CCA and NCBWA National Pitcher of the Year, first team All-American, D2CCA and NCBWA Central Region Pitcher of the Year, NSIC Pitcher of the Year, first team All-NSIC, Brett Tomko Award Finalist, first team CoSIDA Academic All-American and Academic All-NSIC
• Joining Blank is the lone returning weekend starter for the Vikings, but Augustana added Division I transfers in Tyler Mitzel (Arkansas State) and David Flattery (Omaha) to solidify the pitching staff
• In the field, Augustana returns 2017 NSIC Freshman of the Year Sam Baier, 2017 second team All-NSIC honoree Lucas Barry, and 2017 NSIC Gold Glove team selection Ryan Menssen. Also look for junior college transfers Michael Svozil (West Valley CC) and Nate Crossman (Neosho CC) to make early impacts for the Vikings
• During the last five seasons the Vikings have finished no lower than 3rd in the conference. Finished 3rd in 2013 and 2015, and finished 2nd in 2014, 2016 and 2017
• The Vikings last NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2014 when they went 41-16 and won the NSIC Conference Tournament

Hawaii-Hilo Notes
• Hawaii-Hilo plays in the PacWest Conference. The PacWest is a-14 team conference along the West Coast consisting of teams from California, Hawaii and Utah
• Last season the Vulcans went 8-31-1 and were 8-28 in conference play
• As a team last season Hawaii-Hilo hit .250 and averaged 4.08 runs per game. The Vulcans had a team ERA of 6.95 and recorded 165 strikeouts in 2017
• Hawaii Hilo will play 12 more home contests this season. The Vulcans only played 20 home contests last season and will play 32 this year
• The Vulcan offense will be anchored by senior Phillip Steering. Steering hit .421 to lead the PacWest and had the third highest OBP in the NCAA with .537. He hit 11 doubles, two triples and six home runs, vaulting his slugging percentage to .683
• Hawaii Hilo welcomes back all three outfield starters from 2017 in Jonathan Segovia, Dylan Sugimoto and Kyle Yamada. Segovia, a senior, hit .298, the second highest total on the team behind Steering. Junior Sugimoto hit .261 and stole nine bases, while fellow junior Yamada hit .244 with an on-base percentage of .377
• Dylan Spain, a 6-6 sophomore, will be the opening day starter for the Vulcans. He started ten games last year as a true freshman, throwing two complete games with a record of 1-6. Spain had an ERA?of 5.64 and 25 strikeouts
• Freshman left-hander Kyle Alcorn could be the second pitcher in the rotation for the Vulcans, and sophomore Brandyn Lee-Lehano will begin the year at No. 3. Lee-Lahano had eight appearances a year ago
• The Vulcans will have 30 players on the roster and eight additional redshirts

Series History
• Hawaii-Hilo holds the all-time series advantage of 5-3
• The two teams last met in 2013, with the Vikings taking three of four from the Vulcans
• On Feb. 8, 2013 the Vikings and Vulcans split the series with Augustana taking game one 4-3 and Hawaii-Hilo taking game two 10-1
• The next day, Augustana took both games, winning 16-13 and 8-6
• The first meeting between the Vikings and Vulcans took place in April of 1993, with Hawaii-Hilo sweeping the four-game series
• The Vulcans defeated the Vikings 11-7, 7-1, 12-8 and 11-1
• Both matchups were played in Hilo, Hawaii
Next Series
Augustana will not play again until the end of February. The Vikings will take on Morningside in their home opener on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m. at Karras Park in a single, nine inning game.