MANKATO, Minn. - The Augustana baseball team continued its conference stretch on Wednesday afternoon, losing 4-3 and 8-6 against No. 25 Minnesota State at Bowyer Field.
Records
Augustana 28-11, 21-6 NSIC
Minnesota State 27-8, 20-3 NSIC
Game one: Minnesota State 4, Augustana 3
Nate Soelter had three hits, including a two-out, two-run, go-ahead home run to power an offense that outhit MSU 10-6.
Jake Lundquist added a pair of hits and scored twice, including a solo home run.
Mariano Gomez was dialed in early, opening the game with 4 1/3 hitless frames to extend his no-hit stretch to 11 1/3 innings. He finished the day with six strikeouts and allowed two runs on three hits and five walks in six innings.
Ethan Hoffman entered with the lead in the seventh, getting the leadoff batter before five consecutive Mavericks reached, giving him the loss to move to 5-2 on the season.
The game stood scoreless until the fifth inning when Lundquist shot a one-out home run to left center for a 1-0 lead. The Vikings went on to load the bases with one out, but couldn't get another run across. In the bottom of the inning, the Mavericks collected an RBI double to even the score at 1-1 but Gomez was able to limit them to just that when he tallied a strikeout with the bases loaded to keep the tie.
The Mavericks went on to take a 2-1 lead in the sixth and put the pressure on the Viking bats. In the seventh, Lundquist drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a
Brandon Weigel sac bunt. With two outs, Soelter lifted his two-out, two-run blast to take the lead. MSU scored a pair in the bottom of the inning to walk off game one.
Game two: Minnesota State 8, Augustana 6
Soelter,
Ragan Pinnow,
Joshua Koskie and
Bjorn Lind had two hits apiece as Koskie also scored twice and drove in two runs while hitting a home run. Lundquist and Weigel hit back-to-back home runs
Will Henry faced the first three batters of the game, allowing all three to reach while two crossed the plate.
Josiah Petersen entered with the bases loaded and nobody out, throwing the next 6 1/3 innings and allowing three runs on three hits and struck out five.
Carson Walker walked the only two batters he faced, giving up a pair of runs, and
Ryan Clementi threw the final 1 2/3 innings
The Mavericks scored two runs in the bottom of the first before an RBI double from
Carter McPeak cut the Viking deficit to 2-1. MSU added a pair in the third inning but a Pinnow double and Koskie home run in the fourth inning kept AU within a run at 4-3.
That would hold until the seventh inning when Lundquist and Weigel sent back-to-back pitches over the fence to give the Vikings a lead. It wouldn't last long as the Mavericks responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning and one more in the eighth before an RBI single from Pinnow brought the game to its final score.
The two teams will meet for a non-conference game at noon on Thursday in Mankato.
