AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- The Augustana baseball team concluded their week-long trip to Florida against West Chester (Pa.) in Auburndale on Wednesday morning. The Vikings (7-5) would fall 17-5 to the Golden Rams (7-2) after having tied up the game 4-4 in the fifth inning.

The Vikings struggled to get things going offensively and weren't able to stop West Chester's hot bats. This comes off a pair of games in which Augustana put up 37 runs combined a couple of days ago. The Vikings jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after a two-RBI single up the middle from Ryan Nickel.

West Chester would answer back with a three-run second inning followed by plating another run in the third. Augustana was able to score in the bottom half of the third on a throwing error to bring them within one at 4-3.

Then in the fourth inning, Augustana was able to slow down the Golden Rams for the moment. The Vikings took advantage and were able to score on a Nate Crossman RBI single to center field to tie the ballgame up at 4-4.

West Chester would go on to blow the game open scoring six runs in the eighth followed by five in the ninth to grab the win.

The Golden Ram's David Mervis grabbed the win on the mound while Seth Miller was the losing pitcher for the Vikings.

For Augustana, Riley Johnson went 2-of-3 and extended his hitting streak to seven games. Nickel went 2-of-4 with a team-high 3 RBIs on the morning.

On the mound, Miller pitched six innings and gave up five earned runs on 11 hits. He faced 33 batters striking out 10 and walking four.

The Vikings are back in action to take on Bemidji State on Saturday in a three-game series at Karras Park.