Sioux Falls, S.D. - The No. 14 Augustana baseball team travels to Crookston, Minnesota for an altered weekend against Minnesota Crookston. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday and Saturday, with action on both days slated to begin at 1 p.m.

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
The Augustana Vikings are 49-5 in the all-time series and 11-4 in Crookston. Their most recent meeting came in the NSIC Tournament a season ago when Tate Meiners hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the sixth inning to knock off the Golden Eagles 6-5. 

The Golden Eagles
Minnesota Crookston is 12-10 overall and 6-6 in the NSIC after taking three of four against Concordia-St. Paul last weekend. Steve Gust is in his 16th season as head coach and 10th leading UMC. He holds a career record of 370-365. 

Teddy Giefer is batting .402 with five home runs and 33 RBI to lead an offense that includes 2023 NSIC Freshman of the Year Josh Dykhoff and 2023 NCBWA Division II Player of the Year Jake Hjelle. The team bats .300 and scores 7.7 runs per game. Brody Sorenson has a 3-1 record with 41 strikeouts and a 3.79 ERA in a team-high 35 2/3 innings pitched. The team holds a 6.03 ERA. 

The Vikings
Augustana is 17-4 overall and 6-2 in NSIC play after a sweep over Minnesota Duluth last weekend. The Vikings are ninth in the country with 9.7 runs per game. 

Jack Hines and Joe Kolbeck mashed to help lift the offense last weekend. Hines slashed .500/.533/1.071 with seven hits, a triple, two home runs, four runs scored, and five RBI while Kolbeck added .417/.533/1.000 with five hits, two home runs, four runs scored and 10 RBI. Mariano Gomez led the pitching staff with six strikeouts in five innings while not allowing an earned run in the Vikings' game two victory on Friday. 

Hines leads the team with 35 hits, 10 home runs, 32 RBI, and 32 runs scored while slashing .455/.517/.935. He's had 12 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games. Max Mosser is second on the team with a .405 batting average (17 for 42) and a .528 on-base percentage. 

Drey Dirksen has slugged six home runs while collecting a .284/.442/.642 slash line. He's drawn a team-high 15 walks and been plunked four times while scoring 23 runs. 

Jason Axelberg is batting .375 with three home runs and 19 RBI in 19 games and 14 starts, and Luke Ballweg is hitting .372 with a 1.198 OPS and three home runs. As a team, AU ranks 11th in the country in home runs per game with 1.52, 13th with a .532 slugging percentage, 27th with a .433 on base percentage, 39th with 2.14 steals per game, and 44th with a .314 batting average.

14 AU hitters have recorded multi-hit games, led by 12 from Hines. He has now recorded a hit in 18 of 21 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 1.80 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 30 innings, and Saari holds a 2.78 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in 32 1/3 innings of action. He has 33 strikeouts and has allowed an opponents batting average of .202. J.D. Hennen has also shined in his first season of extended work, striking out 25 in 18 1/3 innings while allowing an opponents batting average of .239. 

Out of the bullpen, Tom Sun, Aidan Torpey, Logan Von Berge, Will Henry, and Maddox Foss have combined for 18 innings of one-run ball and 25 strikeouts. Mariano Gomez has a .143 opponents batting average and 27 strikeouts in 14 ⅓ innings, and Adam Diedrich has four saves in seven appearances. 

As a staff, the Vikings have struck out 207 hitters in 161 2/3 innings. They're second in the country with five shutouts, second with a 11.5 K/9 rate, third with a 3.14 K/BB ratio, fifth with 7.52 H/9 allowed, sixth with a 1.24 WHIP, and 17th with a 4.01 team ERA.

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 eighth most among active DII career leaders. 

Trevor Winterstein is eighth in program history with 50 stolen bases, while Nick Banowetz is 10th with 44. Ashton Michek is eighth in program history with a 2.47 career ERA and holds the record for career pickoffs with 11. 

Caleb Saari (211) moved up to fifth in career strikeouts, while Caleb Kranz (196) is tied for seventh. Kranz also ranks third with a 12.54 K/9 rate, while Ethan Cole slots at fifth with 12.40. Adam Diedrich is third in program history and tied for second among active career DII leaders with 20 saves.