Augustana Baseball Begins NSIC Tournament With St. Cloud State

5/18/2021 4:07:00 PM

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- After a sweep of Winona State in round-one, the No. 19-ranked Augustana baseball team faces the St. Cloud State Huskies Wednesday at 6 p.m. in its first contest of the second round of the NSIC Tournament.

The Event
No. 19 Augustana, No. 13 Minnesota State, St. Cloud State and Minnesota Crookston all advanced to the four-team double-elimination round of the NSIC Tournament and will compete for an automatic bid into the regional tournament hosted by Central Missouri. The full tournament bracket can be found here.

The ticket policy implemented by the NSIC for the NSIC baseball tournament is $10 for adults per day, $5 for students per day and free for ages five-and-under.

In addition, live video and live stats will be provided on GoAugie.com/Live.

The Competition
St. Cloud State and Augustana matched up in a three-game series earlier in the season in Sioux Falls in what was a windy, low-scoring series. The Vikings emerged victorious in the series, winning game one 3-2 and game three 2-1.

The Vikings and Golden Eagles of Minnesota Crookston clashed in a mid-week doubleheader earlier in the season in Sioux Falls as well, resulting in a split. Augustana handed Crookston its first loss of the season (previously 12-0) before the Golden Eagles rebounded in game two with a 9-5 win.

Augustana's biggest performance of the season came against the Minnesota State Mavericks on the road in a mid-week doubleheader. The Vikings swept the then No. 11-ranked Mavericks with a pair of shutouts tossed by senior lefty Koby Bishop and sophomore righty Ryan Jares.

The Vikings
Ranked No. 19 in the country for a second-consecutive week, the Vikings continue to be represented in the regional rankings as under consideration for an at-large bid into the regional tournament. During the regular season, Augustana finished second in the NSIC standings and will have a chance to win the NSIC Tournament for the third-consecutive season.

The 2019 and 2018 teams each went 4-0 at the tournament, making it an eight-game NSIC Tournament winning-streak for the Vikings in addition to the current six-game win-streak that they are currently on.

The Vikings have the players to win the tournament and the stats show it. 75% of the starting rotation for Augustana were represented on the all-conference teams with Jares earning First-Team All-NSIC honors and Bishop and senior righty Max Steffens earning Second-Team All-NSIC honors.

The other Viking starter with five-or-more starts to his name? That's junior southpaw Tanner Brown who boasts a 3.11 ERA, 5-0 record, 59 strikeouts in 46.1 innings pitched and the second perfect game in Augustana history which he tossed earlier in the season against Minot State. Not a bad rotation, would be an understatement.

Offensively, four Viking bats earned First-Team All-NSIC honors in senior shortstop Sam Baier, sophomore outfielder Carter Howell, junior catcher Will Olson and junior infielder Jordan Barth. All four sluggers launched nine-or-more homers and drove in 30-or-more runs.

Mix in junior infielder JT Mix (.280 average with eight extra-base hits), senior outfielder Riley Johnson (.304 average with four homers and 31 RBIs), senior infielder Christian Kuzemka (.340 average with five homers and 41 RBIs), junior outfielder Jaxon Rosencranz (.270 average with five homers and 15 steals) and freshman infielder Max Mosser (.391 average) and it's easy to see how this lineup can get long for opposing pitchers.

-- GoAugie.com --

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