ABERDEEN, S.D. - The No. 25 Augustana baseball team got back on track on Saturday afternoon, defeating Northern State 12-11 and 2-1 to open the series with a doubleheader sweep at Fossum Field.
Records
Augustana 27-9, 20-4 NSIC
Northern State 10-16, 8-13 NSIC
Game one: Augustana 12, Northern State 11
Ragan Pinnow had three hits and drove in three runs while
Kobe Eikmeier added a pair of hits and scored four times to help the Vikings to victory in the series opener. Heinsch and
Carter McPeak also had two hits apiece.
Ethan Hoffman was dominant in four innings of work but was dealt a no decision. Hoffman faced just 13 batters, striking out four and allowing a single hit without walking a batter.
Will Simmons allowed four runs without a hit or an out and
Myles Hanson got three outs while allowing a hit to get through the fifth.
Riley Rothschadl allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings and
Will Henry got the final out of the inning but allowed the game-tying run to go to extra innings. He would throw a scoreless eighth to get the win, moving to 4-2 on the season.
Jadon Bast collected his first save after striking out the side in the ninth.
The Vikings struck quick to open the scoring. Eikmeier led the game off with a double and moved to third on a Soelter sac bunt. Heinsch singled up the middle with one out to bring in Eikmeier. He then moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Pinnow double to put the Vikings up 2-0.
Four unearned runs in the second inning helped add to the lead.
Brandon Weigel was hit by a pitch and Eikmeier reached on an error. After Weigel was picked at second, Eikmeier stole second and
Nate Soelter drew a walk.
After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Pinnow sent a single to left, scoring Eikmeier and making it 3-0. Soelter would come around on a
Troy Berg double and then Pinnow and Berg each game in on an error off the bat of Koskie to put AU ahead 6-0.
With one out in the third, Eikmeier had some fun on the bases. He would triple to left center and, on the throw to third, had the ball ricochet off his helmet and away from the Wolves, allowing him to score. In the fourth, Koskie had an RBI single and Clementi had a sac fly to make it 9-0 AU.
The Wolves were able to score four in the fifth and a run in the sixth to pull within 9-5. In the seventh, Weigel led off with a solo blast and Pinnow added a sac fly later in the inning to give the Vikings an 11-5 lead. The Wolves charged back with six runs in the seventh to even the score at 11-11 and go to extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth,
Bjorn Lind lifted a sac fly to give the Vikings the lead. Bast sealed it in the bottom of the inning to finish off the win.
Game two: Augustana 2, Northern State 1
Drew Ball tossed a gem to help lead the Vikings to the sweep. He moved to 3-1 on the year after striking out nine in seven innings of work, allowing a run on six hits.
Jake Lundquist had two of four Viking hits, including both RBI in the victory.
Kobe Eikmeier and
Nate Soelter each had a hit to round out the offense.
We were at a scoreless tie until the sixth inning when a two-out, two-run single from Lundquist drove McPeak and Berg home to make it 2-0 AU. The Wolves scored a run in the bottom of the seventh but a strikeout from Ball closed out the win.
The Vikings and Wolves will close the series at noon on Sunday.
