SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--Augustana baseball defeated the Bemidji State Beavers in a doubleheader on Saturday to earn the series win. AU moves to 16-4-1 overall on the season and 6-1 in the NSIC. BSU falls to 3-18 overall and 0-7 in conference action. 

Both starting pitchers threw gems as game one starter Tanner Brown totaled 17 strikeouts while game two starter Ryan Jares allowed just one hit while striking out 11. 

The Vikings and the Beavers will play the final game of the three-game series on Sunday at Noon.

Game One: Augustana 10, Bemidji State 0

It was a record-breaking day for starter Tanner Brown. He totaled 17 strikeouts, tying the school record for most strikeouts in a game and pushed his career total to 227, surpassing Jacob Blank's career-record of 222. 

The Vikings were leading 1-0 early when Drey Dirksen hit a three-run home run to left center, easily clearing the fence and approaching 400 feet. Dirksen's homer was his fourth of the season and scored Will Olson and Carter Howell.

By the conclusion of the opening frame, the Vikings led 6-0. 

Jordan Barth hit back-to-back home runs with one coming in the second inning and another in the third. In the second inning, Barth hit a leadoff home run to left center. The Vikings then tacked on two more runs in the inning, first on a Will Olson double, scoring Carter Howell, then on a Jaxon Rosencranz sacrifice fly. 

Barth hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the third inning. The four-base hit came after he cleared the fence in foul territory in left field, then cleared the fence in right field, but again in foul territory. He then straightened the hit out for his third home run of the season and a 10-0 lead.

From there, it was Brown in cruise control, giving up just two hits throughout the game while striking out 17 to move to 3-0 in 2022. 

In the batter's box, Drey Dirksen went 3-for-4 with three RBI while Barth was 3-for-3. In all, AU tallied 13 hits. 

The shutout win is the first of the year. 

Game Two: Augustana 22, Bemidji State 0

Ryan Jares started on the mound for the Vikings, staying for six innings and recorded 11 strikeouts, facing 20 batters. Jares's record improves to 2-1. Adam Diedrich took over for Jares in the seventh inning and struck out two of the four batters that he faced.

Augustana got on the board early in the first inning when Will Olson singled through the left side. Jordan Barth scored on Olson's single.

It was a high-scoring second inning for Augustana, adding seven runs to the board. JT Mix and Luke Ballweg scored first after Barth reached second base. Barth was brought home after Carter Howell singled up the middle. 

Another single up the middle allowed Howell to score, this time from Olson. Tony Lanier hit a single to score Olson and Drey Dirksen, putting Augustana up by seven runs. Closing out the inning was Max Mosser, grounding out to first base and scoring Lanier.

A triple for Howell in the third inning brought home Mix and Maddux Baggs and the Vikings led by 10 runs. Olson sent Howell in to score with a single down the right field line. 

Dirksen logged his second home run of the game in the third inning, scoring Olson. 

In the sixth inning, the Vikings added nine runs including a grand slam from Lanier to finish the game with 22 runs.

Nine Vikings in the lineup had at least one hit and Will Olson tallied three hits in the victory.

Augustana earned its second shutout of the day and of the season with the series win.

Up Next

Augustana and Bemidji State will play the third game of the series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for Noon.

–GoAugie.com–