FAYETTE, Iowa - The bats and Mariano Gomez shined as the No. 19 Augustana baseball team cruised to a 18-0 victory over Upper Iowa on Wednesday afternoon. 

In his first start as a Viking, Gomez was electric, striking out 14 batters in five innings of work for his first win. He struck out the side in every inning except for the second in a dominant performance. In the last five games, AU starters have combined for 60 strikeouts in 31 innings, with Gomez continuing the dominant stretch. 

The Vikings slapped 19 hits around the yard and had 12 different players record hits and 17 different players on the base paths in the win. Jason Axelberg went 3 for 4 with a double and four RBI to lead the bats. He also toed the bump and struck out one in an inning of work. 

After entering as a pinch-hitter, Max Mosser went 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles. Jake Lundquist had his first career multi-hit game, going 2 for 2 with a pair of walks, stolen bases, and RBI. Jack Hines was 2 for 3 with three runs scored, and Drey Dirksen scored three runs after going 1 for 1 with a pair of walks. 

The Vikings used three walks, two HBP's, and an Axelberg double in the first six hitters to score four runs in the top of the first inning. After a strikeout, Tate Meiners delivered a sacrifice fly to cap the inning scoring and give AU a 5-0 lead. 

The Vikings move to 11-2 overall while the Peacocks fall to 3-11. 

Drey Dirksen and Hines delivered back-to-back one out singles in the second inning to re-rev the offense. After a wild pitch put both into scoring position, Axelberg and Nick Banowetz collected RBI singles in consecutive at bats to grow the lead to 7-0. 

The Vikings loaded the bases with one out in the third inning to continue the offensive pressure. Hines started a rotation with an RBI single, and Ragan Pinnow tallied an RBI walk to keep it going. Axelberg picked up his third straight RBI hit with a single, and Banowetz followed with an RBI single of his own to keep the bases loaded. Jake Lundquist capped the scoring with a two-run single, his first career hit, to inflate the AU lead to 13-0. 

After a pinch-hit leadoff double from Mosser, Luke Ballweg walked to get a pair on to open the fourth. After an out, Parker Mooney drove in the 14th run of the game with a double to right, bringing home Mosser. 

In the fifth, the Vikings were held without a run, with a Lundquist double and Mosser single not enough to get a run home. AU made up for it in the sixth inning, starting with an X Feng single, Axelberg walk, and Cole Goeser walk to fill the bases. Spencer Marenco delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to score Feng and start the scoring for the inning. 

Ethan Cole got in on the fun, sending an RBI single up the middle after entering as a pinch-hitter to score Axelberg. Sam Siegel recorded a sac fly to bring in Goeser, and Mosser hit his second double of the game to score Marenco and give the Vikings an 18-0 lead that would stay there until the final out. 

The Vikings turn around quickly, taking on St. Cloud State for a four game set in St. Cloud, Minn. The two teams will play a doubleheader Thursday afternoon starting at 1 p.m.