ABERDEEN, S.D. - The No. 12 Augustana baseball team moved their magic number to one with a doubleheader sweep over Northern State at Fossum Field. 

The Vikings move to 38-8 overall and 29-6 in the NSIC. AU is now one victory of one Minnesota State loss away from clinching the Northern Sun regular season title. Northern State falls to 18-28, 13-23. 

Game One: Augustana 2, Northern State 0
J.D. Hennen struck out eight and allowed just three baserunners in a complete game to outduel NSU and lead AU to a win. Hennen allowed a single and a hit batter in the fourth and a walk in the fifth in an otherwise flawless outing. 

Nick Banowetz collected two of the four Viking hits and scored a run to carry the offense. Tate Meiners had a hit and Jason Axelberg had a hit and a run scored. The only RBI of the game was tallied by Joe Kolbeck.

The game opened with a triple to right center from Banowetz. Kolbeck followed it up with an RBI groundout to second base, allowing Banowetz to score and give the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

The final run came across in the top of the third inning. Jason Axelberg led off the inning with a double and moved to third with one out on a Banowetz single. He was able to cross home after Banowetz got caught in a rundown on a pickoff. 

Two runs were plenty for Hennen, who retired the first 10 and final eight Wolves he faced to move to 5-0 on the season. 

Game Two: Augustana 14, Northern State 3
The bats came alive in game two as the Vikings cruised to the midweek sweep. AU had 13 hits in eight innings, led by three hits and three RBI from Axelberg. Banowetz, Hines, Ryan Clementi, and Jack Hines also had two hits apiece and Hines also added three RBI. 

The Vikings had four extra base hits and had RBI from nine different hitters to power the offense. Clementi had a pair of doubles, Tate Meiners had a double, and Sam Siegel hit a home run. 

Riley Rothschadl had eight strikeouts in four innings while allowing an earned run as the starter for the Vikings. Aidan Torpey and Kai Taylor combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings and three strikeouts to lead the bullpen efforts. 

The Vikings scored eight runs on six hits to open the scoring in the second inning. Meiners hit a one out single and Axelberg followed with a single of his own. Kolbeck walked to load the bases and Nate Davis was plunked to score the first run of the game. 

Banowetz singled home Axelberg and Max Mosser drew a bases loaded walk with two outs to score Kolbeck. Hines drove in a pair with a single and Dirksen had an RBI single of his own to score the sixth run. 

Dirksen went on to steal second and get a pair in scoring position and Meiners was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Axelberg completed the inning with a single through the left side to score Hines and Dirksen and give AU an 8-0 lead. 

In the third, Banowetz was plunked with one out and Siegel sent a two-run blast to right center to give the Vikings a 10-0 advantage. 

NSU scored their first run of the day in the bottom of the fourth before AU countered for two in the fifth. Siegel drew a one out walk, advanced to second on a balk, and Hines singled with two outs to drive him home. Clementi entered as a pinch hitter and then hit a double to the gap, scoring Hines and growing the lead to 12-1. 

The Wolves scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning to stay within ten runs. The Vikings put the game away in the eighth with an RBI double from Meiners and an RBI single from Banowetz to bring the game to its final score. 

Augustana will look to capture the NSIC regular season title on Friday afternoon when it welcomes Minot State to Ronken Field. First game of the doubleheader is scheduled for 4 p.m.