SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - The Augustana baseball team split a pair of games on Saturday afternoon, winning the first game before dropping the second against Minnesota Crookston.
The Vikings move to 14-6 overall, 8-3 in the NSIC while the Golden Eagles are 8-13, 4-7.
Game 1: Augustana 16, Minnesota Crookston 2
Bjorn Lind had three of the 13 Viking hits while Ashton Michek was dialed in on the hill to help the Vikings take game one. Lind drove in three runs while Michek allowed two runs and struck out seven in the win.
Trevor Winterstein (two hits, three RBI, three runs scored) and Jason Axelberg each had a home run while Jack Hines had a pair of hits and two RBI and Joshua Koskie added two hits and three runs scored. Drew Ball threw the final inning, striking out three in a scoreless frame.
Winterstein walked and stole second to open the first inning before coming in on a Bjorn Lind single to open the scoring and give AU a 1-0 lead.
The bats scorched through the UMC pitching staff in the third. Winterstein singled and stole second with one out before a Lind single put runners on the corners. Jack Hines tripled off the top of the fence in right center to score them and then scored a run of his own on a Sam Siegel groundout to make it 4-0.
Berg reset the inning with a single and Koskie had a single of is own to get runners back on the corners. After a pitching change, Koskie stole second and they both moved one more base on a wild pitch and Jason Axelberg launched a two-run home run to make it 7-0 AU.
Jake Lundquist singled and Joe Kolbeck walked to provide one last threat in the inning. Trevor Winterstein put a bow on the inning when he watched a three-run homer sail into right field to round out the inning and give the Vikings a 10-0 lead.
In the fourth, Hines led off with a single and then Nate Soelter advanced to second on a balk after entering as a pinch runner and then Siegel walked. Cal Schmelzle reached on a fielder’s choice to reach first and get Soelter to third.
Koskie singled through the right side to bring in Soelter and add a run. Axelberg walked and then the Vikings scored two runs on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Lundquist to put AU ahead 13-0.
The Golden Eagles added two runs in the sixth but AU countered in the bottom of the inning. Cal Schmelzle walked, Koskie was hit by a pitch and Kai Taylor moved them both over with a groundout in his first career at-bat to get them in scoring position.
After the second out of the inning, Joe Kolbeck wore a pitch to fill the bases. Nate Davis drew a walk to bring in a run and Lind rounded out the scoring with a two-run single.
Game 2: Minnesota Crookston 12, Augustana 6
With one out in the second inning, Troy Berg tripled and then came in on a shallow fly ball, caught by the second baseman behind the base off the bat of Ryan Clementi to make it 1-0. The Golden Eagles evened the scoring with an RBI double in the top of the third.
In the top of the sixth, The Golden Eagles tallied three runs on three hits to give them a lead. In the bottom of the inning, Bjorn Lind lifted a sac fly to right field, scoring Cole Goeser and bringing the Vikings within two before UMC added a run in the 7th to make it 5-2 UMC. Four more runs scored for the Golden Eagles in the top of the eighth inning to put them ahead seven.
The bats made a run in the eighth inning to make up ground. Siegel walked and Koskie was hit by a pitch with one out. Winterstein drove one in with a double, Lind scored one with a groundout, Hines yanked an RBI double and Axelberg had an RBI single to make it a 9-6 deficit. UMC added three more in the ninth to bring the game to its final score.
The two teams will meet for one more time, facing off at noon on Sunday at Ronken Field.
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