SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The No. 20 Augustana baseball team (31-13, 24-5 NSIC) travels to Wayne, Neb. on Saturday and Sunday to take on Wayne State (30-13, 21-9 NSIC) in a three-game series. Saturday marks the doubleheader, where the Vikings and Wildcats will face off starting at 1:00 PM and Sunday's series finale is set for noon. 

The series is the first meeting between the two programs this season and the first since the Vikings thumped the Wildcats in the NSIC Tournament last season 10-0. 

The series marks a return to the diamond for Augustana after splitting a midweek series with Minnesota State.

Augustana holds the third-best team batting average in the conference, hitting .320 as a unit thus far this season. Sophomore JT Mix leads the way for the Vikings at the plate in batting average, hitting .392 on the year. Riley Johnson holds the most RBI on the team with 39 for the season with a batting average of .389.

On the mound, the Vikings are led by Max Steffens who holds a 6-0 record so far with six complete games on the year. Steffens has posted a 1.60 ERA thus far, while holding opponents to a .196 batting average. Seth Miller holds the second best ERA among starting pitchers for Augustana, posting a 2.92 ERA on the year with a 4-3 record. 

Scouting Wayne State

The Wildcats are coming off of a midweek split against Concordia St. Paul. The Golden Bears defeated Wayne State in game one 9-1 before the Wildcats took game two 11-0. 

At the plate, Wayne State is led by Kyle Thompson who has batted .371 this season with 43 RBI and seven home runs. Thompson's batting average ranks 10th in the NSIC. Bryce Bisenius has hit nine home runs on the season which ranks fourth in the conference. Bisenius is hitting .313 with 43 RBI this season.

On the mound, the Wildcats are highlighted by the duo of Ryan Obrecht and Hunter Wienhoff. Obrecht has a record of 7-0 on the year with the lowest ERA in the conference in 49.2 innings of work. Wienhoff holds the third-lowest ERA in NSIC at 1.70 and a 7-1 record. 

Next Up

Following the weekend series, the Vikings return home for the final series of the regular season against Upper Iowa on May 3 and 4. The first two games of the series will be played on Friday. Senior day is set for Saturday's noon game.