SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The nationally-ranked Augustana baseball team opens the 2025 conference slate at home with four games against St. Cloud State slated for Monday and Tuesday at Ronken Field. The teams are slated to play a doubleheader each day, with times TBD. 

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 Vikings and Huskies have met 99 times since 1989, with SCSU leading the series 55-44. The teams split a four game set in St. Cloud State last season and Augustana is 23-20 all-time at home in the series. In the final game of the series last year, Jack Hines went 3 for 4 with three runs scored, two home runs and five RBI. 

The Huskies
St. Cloud State enters the weekend 1-2 after a series against then-No. 11 Missouri Southern. Brayden Jacobson went 4 for 8 with a double to lead the team in hitting while Blaine Guthrie raked, collecting a 1.242 OPS with two home runs and a double while knocking in three runs. Cael Kolacia was dealt a no-decision in his first start of the season after allowing an earned run in six innings while Brady Nelson earned a victory after 3 ⅔ shutout innings in their victory. 

The Vikings
Augustana is ranked No. 5 in the ABCA poll, No. 8 in the D2Baseball poll and No. 11 in the NCBWA poll after going 3-1 in the Henderson State Invitational Feb. 6-9. 

Head coach Tim Huber is in his 17th season at the helm for AU and holds an all-time record of 597-267-1. Huber is the reigning NSIC Coach of the Year and has led the Vikings to eight national tournament appearances, including the 2018 NCAA Division II National Championship. 

The Vikings raked in their four games, ranking fifth in the country with 11.5 runs per game, 14th in doubles per game at 2.75 and 21st with a .324 team batting average. The pitching also picked up where it left off a season ago, ranking ninth with 11.7 K/9 and 18th with 7.09 hits allowed per nine innings. 

Sam Siegel was named NSIC Player of the Week after he hit .471 (8-for-17) over the four-game weekend with three doubles, seven RBI and five runs scored. He slashed .471/.526/.647 with a pair of three hit games and recording at least a hit in all four while adding a double in each of the final three games. Against Henderson State, he went 3 for 4 with a career-high five RBI and two runs scored and he tied his career-high with three hits against both Southern Arkansas and Henderson State.

Mariano Gomez joined Siegel on the weekly award list, being named NSIC Pitcher of the Week after six shutout innings against Ouachita Baptist on Feb. 9. He recorded 12 strikeouts and allowed two hits, two walks and an opponent batting average of .105. Gomez induced three flyouts and three groundouts and recorded multiple strikeouts in four of six innings while also forcing a double play. 

The Vikings had plenty of player of the week-type performances over their opening weekend. 
Reigning National Player of the Year and NSIC Preseason Player of the Year Jack Hines went 8 for 16 with six RBI and six runs scored while drawing three walks and stealing two bases to lead the offense with Siegel. 

At the top of the lineup, Trevor Winterstein opened with a bang. The senior went 7 for 14 with seven runs scored, a home run and three RBI with an OPS of 1.293. Joshua Koskie hit the first two Viking home runs on the year and went 6 for 14 with two doubles, the two bombs and six RBI while slashing .429/556/1.000. 

In his first career game, freshman Kobe Eikmeier went 3 for 5 with two runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base while collecting a pair of assists at shortstop. Eikmeier is hitting .333 (5 for 15) with five runs scored, five putouts and nine assists without an error. Jason Axelberg tied Siegel with a team-high seven RBI on three hits. 

Graduate transfer Harry Blum made a statement in his AU debut with four scoreless innings and two strikeouts out of the bullpen. In his collegiate debut, Joel Van De Stroet showed promise with two shutout innings and three strikeouts while not allowing a hit. 

Reigning NSIC Pitcher of the Year Ashton Michek was solid in his season debut, striking out eight and a pair of earned runs in five innings of work. Ethan Cole was tabbed as the opening day starter, allowing three runs and striking out six in five innings of work to earn a victory. Maddox Foss was also solid in his debut, striking out a pair in a scoreless frame. 

Record Watch
Jack Hines has his name scattered across the all-time record list at Augustana and will have one more season to stake his claim. Hines is the all-time leader in triples (14) and times hit by pitch (42), fourth in slugging percentage (.674) and total bases (423) and runs scored (184), sixth in home runs (37) and RBI (177) on-base percentage (.469), batting average (.390) and hits (245). 

Trevor Winterstein is seventh in program history with 62 stolen bases. J.D. Hennen (.201) and Riley Rothschadl (.207) each find themselves among the all-time opponent batting average list, with Hennen ranking seventh and Rothschadl 10th, minimum 25 innings pitched. 

Mariano Gomez and Ethan Cole have both established themselves with swing-and-miss stuff, running second (13.50) and sixth (12.31), respectively. 
 
Also climbing the career record books is Adam Diedrich, who ranks third all-time with 20 saves, four away from the record held by Bret Severtson (24, 2008-11).

Ashton Michek is the master of deception, holding the all-time record with 18 pickoffs. His two full seasons at Augustana are the top two seasons in program history in terms of pickoffs (six in 2023, 11 in 2024.)

One Last Thing
This Vikings have won their conference opener eight consecutive seasons since 2015 and are 13-1 in their last 14.