National Rankings
• The Augustana baseball team is ranked No. 1 in the NCBWA Poll (4/25)
• The Vikings are ranked No. 7 in the Collegiate Baseball DII?Poll (4/23)
• Augustana is currently the top ranked NSIC?team and Central Region team in both polls
• Augustana sits at No. 2 in the first Central Region rankings (4/25)
• On March 7, Augustana became ranked for the first time since April 26, 2016 when they were 22nd
• The Vikings have been ranked for eight straight weeks in the NCBWA?Poll and two straight weeks in the Collegiate Baseball Poll
• The Vikings No. 1 ranking in the NCBWA?poll on April 25 is the highest rank in school history

Statistical Rankings in Division II (as of 4/25)
• 1st in winning pct. (.925)
• 1st in WHIP?(1.02)
• 1st in ERA?(2.14)
• 1st in shutouts (13)
• 1st in hits allowed per nine (6.15)
• 2nd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.6)
• 2nd in strikeouts per nine (10.8)
• 3rd in fielding pct. (.976)
• 4th in stolen bases (111)
• 13th in walks allowed per nine (2.99)
• 29th in batting avg. (.317)
• 70th in runs per game (7.0)

Stat Rankings in the NSIC (as of 4/25)
• Augustana leads the NSIC in batting avg. (.317), runs scored (280), stolen bases (111), fielding pct. (.976), ERA (2.14), shutouts (13), saves (12) and strikeouts (378)
• Jordan Barth leads the NSIC?in RBI?(49)
• Michael Svozil leads the NSIC?in stolen bases (24). Sam Baier is second (20) and Riley Johnson is third (18)
• Tyler Mitzel and Jacob Blank are tied for the NSIC?lead in shutouts (two)
• Michael Brandt is first in the NSIC?in saves (eight)

Sophomore Sluggers
• Sam Baier (Springfield, Minn.) and Riley Johnson (Champlin, Minn.) are showing no signs of sophomore slumps in their seconds seasons
• Johnson broke a pair of school records during the opening weekend. Johnson recorded six hits in the season opener to break the school record of five and stole four bases in the series finale to tie the school record
• Johnson is batting leadoff for the Vikings and leads the team in batting avg. (.394) hits (61), runs scored (41) and is third on the team with 18 steals
• Baier, the reigning NSIC?Freshman of the Year, is second on the team in RBI?(43) and is the team leader in homers (seven) hitting .315. Baier is also second on the team with 20 stolen bases
• Johnson and Baier are the only two fielders to start every game this season for the Vikings

Enter Sandman
• Michael Brandt (Rochester, Minn.) has assumed the closer role for the Vikings in his junior season and has been lights out in the role
• Brandt has eight saves on the season with an ERA?of 0.90 in 13 appearances and 20 innings pitched
• Brandt is first in the NSIC?in saves and 14th in DII
• Brandt's 34 strikeouts ranks third on the team and Brandt is averaging 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings
• Brandt also isn't just a traditional one inning closer, having racked up eight outings of four outs or more

Pitching Perfect
• The Augustana pitching staff has been stellar this season, posting the best marks in DII?in ERA?(2.14), shutouts (13), WHIP?(1.02) and hits allowed per nine (6.15)
• The Vikings have destroyed  the school record for shutouts in a season (13) with the previous record being six ( 2017 and 2011)
• Augustana has allowed set the school record for consecutive shutouts with four in a row (4/19-4/23 - SMSU and UMD x3)
• Currently the 2018 Vikings hold the school records in strikeouts per nine (10.77) and fewest losses (three)
• Jacob Blank and Tyler Mitzel have tied the school record for shutouts in a season (two)
• Michael Brandt currently sits in the top spot in school history in strikeouts per nine (15.3), second in opponent batting avg. (.143), fourth in ERA?(0.90) and tied for fourth in saves (eight)
• David Flattery currently sits in third in opponent batting avg. (.151) and fourth in strikeouts per nine (13.30) in school history

Three Amigos
• Augustana baseball has three senior transfer pitchers this season. David Flattery (Fort Dodge, Iowa) came from Omaha, Tyler Mitzel (Sioux Falls, S.D.) transferred from Arkansas State and Clay Collison (Algona, Iowa) transferred from Nebraska-Kearney
• Flattery has made seven starts going 5-1 with a 1.43 ERA with 65 strikeouts and an opponent batting avg. of .151. Flattery is second on the team in innings pitched (44.0) and is the team leader in strikeouts. Flattery is fifth in DII in hits allowed per nine (4.5), ninth in strikeouts per nine (13.3), 14th in ERA and 18th in WHIP?(0.93)
• Collison is an innings eater for the Vikings with four appearances out of the bullpen and four starts totalling 27.2 innings and an ERA?of 2.28 with 31 K's
• Mitzel has made five starts and three relief appearance. Mitzel is 6-0 with a 1.82 ERA in 34.2 innings pitched (third on the team) with two complete game shutouts

Party on Barth
• Freshman Jordan Barth (Cold Springs, Minn.) has become an RBI machine for the Vikings early on in his career
• Barth is the team and NSIC leader in RBI (49) and has 16 multi-RBI games in 38 games. Barth is also second on the team in hits (53) and home runs (five)
Blank is Blanking Teams
• Senior Jacob Blank (Gretna, Neb.) has picked up where he left off last season. Blank is 6-0 in nine starts on the year with an ERA?of 2.22 and leads the team with 41.2 innings pitched and in second with 64 strikeouts. Blank has two shutouts on the year and three complete games
• Blank ranks third in DII?in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.67), 11th in WHIP?(0.88), 13th in walks per nine (1.11) and 42nd in ERA?(2.22)

Don't Run on Menssen
• Senior Ryan Menssen (St. James, Minn.) has been a stalwart behind the plate for the Vikings this season. The reigning NSIC?Gold Glove recipient has started 28 games between catcher and DH
• Menssen sports of fielding pct. of .996, 211 putouts and 20 assists. Menssen has also thrown eight potential base stealers this season out of 19 attempts and has picked off one runner
• Menssen has also been solid at the plate hitting .300 and is tops on the team with being hit by a pitch nine times this season

Nickel for your Thoughts
• Ryan Nickel (Shoreview, Minn.) has made an instant impact as a freshmen. Nickel has appeared in every game for the Vikings and has made 37 starts
• Nickel leads the Vikings in on-base pct. (.447). Nickel is second on the team in walks (17), third in batting avg. (.365) and fourth in runs scored (32)
• Nickel is one of two Vikings that has more walks than strikeouts?(Johnson)

Svozil Style
• Svozil has brought energy with him in his first season at Augustana. Svozil has appeared in 37 games, making 36 starts, and is fifth on the team in batting avg. (.323)
• Svozil leads the team and the NSIC and is 19th in DII in stolen bases (24) and leads the team in sacrifices with five sac hits and six sac flies

Schmidt Happens
• Freshman Jed Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) has established himself as a future ace in the Vikings pitching staff
• Schmidt mans the fourth spot in the weekend rotation and is the only non-senior in the rotation (Blank, Flattery, Mitzel)
• Schmidt has made eight appearances with six starts this season and is fourth on the team in innings pitched with 33.1. Schmidt is 3-0 with 25 strikeouts and the best starter's ERA?of 1.08. Schmidt has an opponents batting avg. of .178 and one save
• Schmidt's best performance came against Northern State (3/18) where he tossed a complete game shutout allowing only one hit and three walks with four strikeouts

Piling Up Wins
• The Vikings have three separate winning streaks of 12 games this season
• Augustana's 12-game winning streaks are the third longest in school history
• The Vikings won 15 straight in 2013 and 14 straight in 2015
• With 37 wins, Augustana is approaching the school record for wins in a season (41) set in 2014

Minnesota State Notes
• Minnesota State comes into the four-game series against Augustana with a record of 27-10 and is second in the NSIC?with a record of 22-6. The matchup between the Vikings and Mavericks will be Minnesota State's first home series of the year
• The Mavericks split a four-game set with St. Cloud State this past weekend. Minnesota State took games one and four and the Huskies won games two and three
• Offensively, the Mavericks are led by Josh Wenzel who leads the team in batting avg. (.390), runs scored (27), doubles (12), triples (three), RBI (26) and slugging pct. (.539)
• Other Mavericks hitting above .300 include Ty Buck (.359), Tyler Berg (.318), Teddy Peterson (.317), Tommy McDonald (.316), Noah Bluth (.306) and Tom Imholte (.300)
• The Mavericks have a two-headed monster on their pitching staff in Aaron Rozek and Dalton Roach. Rozek is 6-2 with an ERA?of 1.68 in 59 innings with 75 strikeouts. Roach is 8-0 in 53 innings with an ERA of 2.55 and 67 strikeouts. Rozek and Roach are 1-2 in the NSIC?in strikeouts
• The Mavericks top bullpen are is Carlo Graffeo who's made 14 appearances. Graffeo is 3-2 with an ERA of 2.37 and 42 strikeouts in 30.1 innings

Next Series
The Vikings will wrap up the regular season with a four-game home series against Wayne State on Friday and Saturday, May 4-5 at Karras Park.

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