SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana baseball team (6-0, 5-0 NSIC) earned a pair of victories over Minnesota Duluth (0-2, 0-2) on Saturday afternoon at Ronken Field.
Augustana 12, Minnesota Duluth 2
Mariano Gomez had an impressive first start of the season and the bats came alive late to give the Vikings a series-opening victory.
Gomez (0-1) threw five innings, allowing two runs on four hits while racking up nine strikeouts. He took a perfect game into the fifth.
Jack Sutton threw the final two innings, striking out a pair and allowing a hit and a walk.
The Vikings scattered 12 hits in game one as
Brandon Weigel,
Carter Heinsch and
Bjorn Lind each recorded a pair.
Kobe Eikmeier and Lind each drove in three runs while Heinsch added two RBI and scored twice.
Gomez opened his first start of the season with authority, striking out all three Bulldogs he faced. In the top of the second, Heinsch broke the scoreless tie with a blast to the opposite field to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.
That would wrap up the scoring until the top of the fifth. With one out,
Joshua Koskie drilled a triple to the right center gap. Three pitches later,
Cal Schmelzle dribbled a single up the middle to double the Viking lead to 2-0.
The Bulldogs chipped back in the fifth, hitting a leadoff home run and two-out RBI single to even the scoring. It took just two batters for the Vikings to regain the lead. After a Weigel single to lead off the inning, Berg sent the first pitch he saw over the right field fence to make it 4-2 AU.
That opened the floodgates for the Vikings. AU loaded the bases with two outs and Lind made UMD pay with a two-run single. Two pitches into a pitching change, Eikmeier put the exclamation mark on the game with a three-run blast to right to make it 9-2.
In the seventh inning,
Ragan Pinnow added an RBI single to drive home
Carter Heinsch, who reached on an infield single to lead off the inning. With two outs, Lind blooped a single to bring in Pinnow and Weigel finished the scoring when he drew a bases-loaded walk.
Augustana 9, Minnesota Duluth 4
The Vikings sprayed seven hits from seven different players in game two.
Will Simmons allowed three runs, two earned, in three innings of work while striking out three to start.
Drew Ball (1-0) was summoned in the fourth, striking out four in two scoreless innings to earn the victory.
Maddox Foss allowed just one base runner in 2 1/3 while striking out four and allowing a single run while
Will Henry got the final five outs to finish the game and earn his first save of the season.
Weigel drew a one-out walk in the top of the first before a two-out Heinsch double gave the Vikings an early lead. The Bulldogs countered for two in the bottom of the inning and, after a two-out RBI double from Soelter in the second, UMD hit a sac fly to take a 3-2 lead.
That would do it for the scoring until the sixth inning. Berg drew a leadoff walk and stole second with one out before moving to third on a ground out. He would come around and score on a clutch single by Lind to even the game. After two walks loaded the bases,
Jake Lundquist delivered a pinch-hit grand slam on a full count to put the Vikings in front 7-3.
The VIkings added two more runs in the seventh. Pinnow was plunked with the bases loaded and nobody out and Berg scored three pitches later on a double play. UMD would score their final run on a passed ball to bring the game to its final score.
The teams will close their four-game set on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader starting at noon.
