Sioux Falls, S.D. - The No. 20 Augustana baseball team continues NSIC action against Minnesota Duluth. The teams will play a doubleheader at Ronken Field on Thursday before heading to Omaha, Nebraska, for a Friday doubleheader. Both doubleheaders are set for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch. 

Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play. 

Series History
Augustana leads the all-time series 36-17 and have won 13 in a row. Jack Hines and Jason Axelberg each had three hits, while Nick Banowetz and Drey Dirksen had two hits apiece to lift the Vikings to a 12-1 win over UMD in their most recent meeting on March 30, 2023. The Vikings are 18-7 at home and 5-4 at a neutral site in the series. 

The Bulldogs
Minnesota Duluth is 8-9 overall and 4-4 in the NSIC after a four game split against Sioux Falls last weekend. Bob Rients is 394-451 and in his 19th season at the helm. 

Kade Peloquin is slashing .400/.432/.614 with four home runs and five stolen bases, while Jack Puder has slugged eight home runs to power an offense that scores 7.2 runs per game. Brayden Buttweiler has a 3.00 ERA and 16 K's in 18 innings of work and touts a 2-0 record to lead a staff that holds a 7.61 team ERA. 

The Vikings
Augustana is 13-4 overall and 6-2 in NSIC play after splitting with St. Cloud State last week. The Vikings are seventh in the country with 10.0 runs per game. 

Jack Hines and Mariano Gomez were named as top performers in the NSIC last weekend. Hines slashed .352/.500/.882 with three home runs and eight RBI in five games against UIU and SCSU. He hit two of his home runs in the same inning against St. Cloud State. Gomez racked up a career-high 14 strikeouts against Upper Iowa, allowing three hits in five innings. 

Hines leads the team with 28 hits, eight home runs, 27 RBI, and 28 runs scored while slashing .444/.514/.905. He's had 10 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games. Max Mosser leads the team with a .452 batting average (14 for 31) and a .575 on-base percentage. 

Drey Dirksen has slugged six home runs while collecting a .327/.486/.745 slash line. He's drawn a team-high 13 walks and been plunked four times while scoring 21 runs. 

Jason Axelberg is batting .415 with three home runs and 18 RBI in 16 games and 11 starts, and Luke Ballweg is hitting .405 with a 1.225 OPS and 14 game on-base streak. As a team, AU ranks 13th in the country in home runs per game with 1.53, 16th with a .534 slugging percentage, 22nd in doubles per game with 2.29, 27th with 0.88 double plays per game, 27th with 2.47 steals per game, and 35th with a .319 batting average.

14 AU hitters have recorded multi-hit games, led by 10 from Hines. He has now recorded a hit in 15 of 17 games to open the season. 

Ashton Michek and Caleb Saari have been at the head of a pitching staff that ranks among the nations best. Michek has a 1.88 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 24 innings, and Saari holds a 2.42 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in 26 innings of action. He has 29 strikeouts and has allowed an opponents batting average of .191. J.D. Hennen has also shined in his first season of extended work, striking out 21 in 16 1/3 innings while allowing an opponents batting average of .210. 

Out of the bullpen, Tom Sun, Aidan Torpey, Logan Von Berge, Will Henry, Riley Rothschadl, and Maddox Foss have combined for 19 1/3 innings of two-run ball and 26 strikeouts. Mariano Gomez has a .129 opponents batting average and 21 strikeouts in 9 ⅓ innings, and Ethan Cole has struck out 24 in 15 innings while holding a 2.40 ERA.  

As a staff, the Vikings have struck out 170 hitters in 131 2/3 innings. They're second in the country with five shutouts, third with a 3.27 K/BB ratio, third with a 11.6 K/9 rate, fifth with 7.38 H/9 allowed and fifth with a 1.22 WHIP.

Numbers Game
Drey Dirksen continues to inch closer to the program's home run crown. He has hit 42 in his career, tied for second most in program history. He now sits seven away from the program record, held by Nate Baumann (49, 2008-11). The number is also tied for seventh most among active DII career leaders. Trevor Winterstein is eighth in program history with 50 stolen bases, while Nick Banowetz is tied for 10th with 43. Ashton Michek is eighth in program history with a 2.55 career ERA and tied the program record for career pickoffs with 10 after recording three on Saturday. Caleb Saari (207) moved up to sixth in career strikeouts, while Caleb Kranz (195) sits eighth. Kranz also ranks second with a 12.57 K/9 rate, while Ethan Cole slots at seventh with 11.76. Adam Diedrich is third in program history and fifth among active career DII leaders with 18 saves.