SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Augustana baseball team (40-14) is prepared to make a defense of their national title last season in the NCAA Central Region I with their opening game against Oklahoma Baptist (33-19) on Thursday at 7:00 PM. The Vikings enter the regional as the top seed for the first time in school history. The matchup with the Bison will be game two of the regional, with Minnesota State and Arkansas-Monticello facing off prior.

On Tuesday, the Vikings were also named the No. 9 team in the country by the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) in the final poll of the season. The ranking marks Augustana's first appearance in the top 10 since the second week of their season.

The opening round game against the Bison will be the first ever meeting between the two teams. Oklahoma Baptist enters the tournament as the eighth seed in the Central Region and earned their second consecutive NCAA tournament bid after winning the Great American Conference title.

Augustana holds the 11th best team batting average in the country for Division II, hitting .326 as a unit following the conference tournament. 

Augustana will lean on the bats of NSIC All-Tournament Team honorees Jordan Barth, Sam Baier, and Will Olson to provide power against the Bison after the trio combined for 16 RBI over the course of four games in St. Cloud, Minn. 

 Riley Johnson also provides a consistent presence at the plate as he ranks in the top 50 for batting average nationally, while also ranking 19th in the country for hits per game at 1.59.

On the mound, the Vikings will likely be turning to Seth Miller or Max Steffens in game one of the regional. Miller started game one at the NSIC Tournament and secured the win against Winona State. The freshman also came on in relief against Minot State in the NSIC title game and went 2.2 innings without giving up a hit.

Max Steffens pitched in one game at the NSIC Tournament when he faced off with St. Cloud State. The NSIC Pitcher of the Year gave up five runs in the game, but secured the win for his ninth of the season.

Scouting Oklahoma Baptist

Oklahoma Baptist enters the NCAA Central Region I on a 13 game winning streak and are one of the hottest teams in the country. The Bison began the season at 20-19, but ended the regular season and conference tournament at 33-19. 

At the plate, Oklahoma Baptist is led by PJ Harris who owns a .379 batting average on the season, while drawing a team-high 44 walks. Jake Gozzo provides power for the Bison as he has knocked 19 home runs on the year and driven in a team-high 68 runs. Ramon Enriquez has hit 12 home runs himself while recording 67 RBI in the 2019 season.  

On the mound, Jake Lipetzky has the best ERA among starting pitchers for the Bison at 3.37 with 96 strikeouts and has started in 15 games on the season. AJ Merkel has pitched in 14 games for Oklahoma Baptist, throwing three complete games and also recording a save. 

Up Next

The winner of game two moves on to play in game three at noon on Friday, while the loser will play game four at 3:30 PM on Friday. 

Tournament Information

Tickets for the NSIC Tournament are available at the stadium and cost $10 for adults, $5 for students, and an all-tournament pass can be purchased for $25.  

The winner of the NSIC Baseball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The NCAA Central Region is made up of 39 teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (15), the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) (12) and the Great American Conference (GAC) (12). 

Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis. The central region will have eight teams participate in two, 4-team regional sites on May 16-18 with the super region dates being May 24-25.  

The NCAA Division II Baseball Championships will take place on June 1-8 in Cary, North Carolina. The NCAA Division II Baseball Selection show will air via webcast at NCAA.com on Sunday, May 12 at 9 p.m. central time.