SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The No. 25 Augustana baseball team won its second consecutive ranked road game on Saturday afternoon, knocking off No. 18 Drury 8-4 in a 12-inning marathon at Mark Worley Field.
The Vikings scattered 18 hits in the game with all 10 players earning a hit that stepped to the plate.
Joshua Koskie led the charge with three hits and two runs scored. Six AU hitters had two hits as
Brandon Weigel had two runs and two RBI in the leadoff spot to go with a pair of hits and
Troy Berg adding two hits and two RBI of his own.
Ethan Hoffman threw 4 1/3 innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks in the no decision.
Will Simmons threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, striking out a pair.
Will Henry allowed a run and struck out three in three innings while
Joel Van De Stroet earned a victory with five strikeouts in the final three innings.
The Panthers scored first, taking advantage of a wild pitch in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. In the top of the third, Weigel broke through with a two-run single and stole second for the lead and another threat. With two outs, Berg rewarded him with an RBI single to make it 3-1.
Weigel opened the fifth with a double and advanced to third following a groundout. On the first pitch to
Cal Schmelzle, he drove a single up the middle to make the lead 4-1. DU was able to bounce back with two runs in the fifth before scoring another when down to its final out in the seventh to send the game to extra innings.
The teams would be held scoreless for the next four innings before the Viking bats took over. In the top of the 12th,
Nate Soelter led off with a single before a Berg double brought him around to score. Berg moved to third on a groundout and came in on a single from
Jake Lundquist.
Lundquist moved to second on a
Bjorn Lind walk and would come around to score on a Koskie double. It would take a pair of passed balls to get Koskie to score and, just like that, the Vikings had doubled up the Panthers 8-4. Van De Stroet allowed a walk and a single in the 12th but struck out a pair, including the final batter to close the game.
Due to temps in Springfield, the teams shifted their schedule to have a doubleheader on Sunday starting at noon.
