Biography
2021 (Senior): First-Team All-NSIC… NSIC Player of the Week on April 5, 2021… Broke the career games played and career games started records at Augustana… Broke the career sacrifice fly’s record… Featured on SportsCenter after hitting seven home runs in a doubleheader against Bemidji State… Broke the Augustana single-game home run and total bases records in game one against Bemidji State with four homers for 16 total bases… Started 48 games for the Vikings… Hit .313 with 41 runs scored, 55 hits, six doubles, one triple, nine homers, 39 RBIs and 22 steals in 23 attempts.
2020 (Senior): Started all 13 games for the Vikings… Had a .292 batting average with 14 hits, three doubles, one triple, one homer, eight RBIs and eight runs scored… Went five-for-six in stolen base attempts… Named to Spring NSIC All-Academic Team… Earned a spot on the CoSIDA District 7 Academic All-District First Team... Season cut short due to COVID-19.
2019 (Junior): Started all 59 games for the Vikings… Had a .288 batting average with 39 runs scored, 60 hits, 13 doubles, one triple, three homers and 51 RBI’s… Slugged .404 and had a .370 OBP… Earned 30 free passes and went 20-22 in stolen base attempts… Named to the Spring NSIC All-Academic Team.
2018 (Sophomore): 2018 First-Team All-NSIC ... 2018 NSIC Gold Glove Team ... 2018 NCBWA HM All-Region ... 2018 NSIC All-Tournament Team ... Started all 61 games for the Vikings … Hit .308, connecting on 12 doubles, eight home runs, two triples and 58 RBI … Had a .485 slugging percentage … stole 29 bases, which ties Jake Peterson for the fifth most in a single season … Had 159 assists, the most in a single season … Was was a member of a team that won a program-best 52 games, an NSIC Conference Tournament championship, a Central Region Tournament Championship and the school’s first ever National Championship
2017 (Freshman): 2017 NSIC Freshman of the Year … appeared in 56 games, started 54 … had a .313 batting average accounting for 17 doubles, one triple and six home runs while driving in 32 runs during his freshman campaign … also accounted for a .503 slugging percentage and was a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases … had a .914 fielding percentage accounting for 52 putouts and 107 assists
High School: As a junior Sam posted a .344 batting average while driving in 23 runs … He had 32 hits, 19 were singles, six were doubles, one was a triple and three were home runs … He scored 30 runs while drawing seven walks, nine hit-by-pitches … Stole 23 bases and executed three sacrifices … Sam earned all-conference and all-section honors … was named to the Minnesota State All-Tournament team and the all-area team … Was a Breakdown Sports Top 50 Junior, team defensive MVP … Broke the state tournament records for at-bats in a game with seven … Helped guide his team to a conference title, Section title and State Runner-ups … As a sophomore he hit .320 with 11 RBIs, 34 runs scored, 24 hits, 27 walks, two hit-by-pitches, 32 stolen bases and two sacrifice executions … Earned all-conference honorable mention while also being named to the all-section and State All-Tournament teams … Named team defensive MVP … help lead his team to a conference title, section title, State consolation championship … as a freshman he hit .250 with six RBIs, nine runs, eight hits, six stolen bases … helped his team to a conference title and section runner-up
Personal: Born February 6, 1998 in New Ulm, Minn. to Randy and Amy Baier; He plans on majoring in education with a minor in coaching
