SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana baseball team takes Ronken Field for the first time in 2024, hosting Bemidji State for a four-game set in its NSIC opener. First pitch for Friday's single game is set for 3 p.m. They will play a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m., on Saturday, and will close the weekend with a noon game on Sunday. 

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 holds a 38-7 series lead against Bemidji State and have won 17 in a row since 2017. In their most recent matchup, Luke Ballweg went 4 for 5 with five RBI and Nate Davis hit a three-run home run after entering as a defensive sub to lift the Vikings to an 18-5 win on April 3, 2023 at Ronken Field. 

The Beavers
Bemidji State is 1-13 overall and earned their first win of the season against William Jewell on Saturday. Matt Ellinghuysen is in his third year at the helm for the Beavers. 

Matt Filippi is batting .349 with 15 hits, two home runs, and 14 runs scored while holding a 1.011 OPS to lead an offense that scores 4.4 runs per game. Jacob Smith has 11 strikeouts in 13 ⅓ innings and leads all players with at least one start in ERA. Brandon Lind has a 1.59 ERA in 5 ⅔ relief innings. 

The Vikings
Augustana is 6-2 overall after a three game sweep against Drury last weekend. The Vikings outscored the Panthers 27-12 in the three games, and are currently ninth in the country with 10.2 runs per game. 

Ashton Michek enters the weekend as the reigning NSIC Pitcher of the Week. The Sophomore from Bangor, Wisconsin, allowed just two hits and struck out eight in six scoreless innings to power the Vikings past Drury in the back end of their Saturday doubleheader. 

Luke Ballweg is batting .500 (8 for 16) on the year with a pair of doubles, six RBI, and seven runs scored with an OPS of 1.225 to lead the team in batting. Max Mosser is at .474 (9 for 19) with six runs scored and six RBI. Jack Hines has been stellar to open the season, slashing .424/.472/.788 with three home runs and leads the team with 14 hits, 11 RBI, and 13 runs scored. 

Drey Dirksen has now hit four home runs in eight games while batting .370 (10 for 27) and has tallied a 1.403 OPS. He has hit at least a home run against each of the three opponents AU has faced this season. The Vikings were a perfect 14 for 14 in stolen bases, led by three steals apiece for Hines and Joe Kolbeck. Their 14 steals are the second most in the country without being caught. 

As a team, AU ranks eighth in double plays per game with 1.12, 23rd in doubles per game with 2.38, and 36th in batting average with a team average of .321. 

12 AU hitters have recorded multi-hit games, led by five from Hines. He is also the only player to have a hit in every single game. Ballweg has a six game hit streak after going hitless in the season opener. Tate Meiners, Trevor Winterstein, and Dirksen all join Hines with eight game on-base streaks to open the year.

Michek holds a 1.50 ERA and has struck out 12 in 12 innings to lead the pitching staff. He has earned a victory in both starts. Caleb Saari is 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA and six strikeouts in a pair of starts. 

Out of the bullpen, Sun, Aidan Torpey, and Maddox Foss combined for 8 1/3 scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts. On Sunday, Caleb Kranz and Mariano Gomez held the Panther bats in check out of the bullpen, allowing just three hits in 5 ⅓ scoreless innings while striking out eight in the middle innings to help spearhead a comeback victory. As a staff, the Vikings have struck out 71 hitters in 64 ⅓ innings. They're 24th in the country and first in the NSIC with 9.9 K/9 and 30th in the country with a 2.45 K/BB ratio. 

A Couple Numbers To Watch
Drey Dirksen continues to inch closer to the program's home run crown. He has hit 40 in his career, tied for fourth most in program history. He now sits two away from a tie for second and nine 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 ninth in program history with 44 stolen bases. Caleb Kranz (194) and Caleb Saari (184) are seventh and eighth in career strikeouts. Adam Diedrich is third in program history and fifth among active career DII leaders with 17 saves.