Box Score 1 | Box Score 2  ELMHURST, Ill. – Augustana exploded for 10 runs in the seventh and eighth innings of Saturday's opener and jumped out in front with four first-inning runs in the night cap, eventually hanging on for a 9-6 win to complete a doubleheader sweep of Elmhurst. The Vikings improve to 13-6 overall and 5-2 in the CCIW, while Elmhurst falls to 4-13 overall and 0-7 in the league. The teams are scheduled to complete the series with a single game on Sunday, April 6 at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field.
 
AUGUSTANA 10, ELMHURST 1
 
Seth Davis (Mullen HS, Aurora, Colo.) pitched out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth and his offense came through with three runs in the top of the seventh to give him the lead in game one. Three-run homers by sophomore Alex Fluehr (Harlem HS, Loves Park, Ill.) and senior Grant Stewart (Sterling HS, Sterling, Ill.) highlighted a seven-run eighth as Augustana blew the contest open.
 
Dave Wolak's one-out, solo homer in the top of the first staked Elmhurst starter Jordan Hanlon to an early lead.
 
Hanlon shut out the Vikings on just three hits through the top of the sixth and it looked like his teammates would pad the margin in the bottom half. Tyler Wargo led off and reached on a dropped third strike. Wolak advanced him to second with a single to right and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. A walk to Ben Havel loaded the bases with no outs. However, Zach Tsiodras grounded to first, with Stewart's throw home cutting down Wargo, and Davis fanned Luke Collins and coaxed a comebacker from Greg Struck to end the threat.
 
Junior Nick Tenerelli (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) pulled a double to lead off the Augustana seventh and moved to third on Kyle Lenihan's (Romeoville HS, Romeoville, Ill.) single to right. One out later, sophomore Trace Gingerich (Sherrard HS, Sherrard, Ill.) singled to right, plating Tenerelli with the tying run. Gingerich stole second, moved to third on a passed ball on scored the go-ahead run on Jacob Van Duyne's (Wilmington HS, Wilmington, Ill.) infield single. Junior Brandon Jasper (Central HS, DeWitt, Iowa) followed with a single to center, scoring Fluehr, who had walked, to put the Vikings up 3-1.
 
Fluehr and Stewart each launched two-out, three-run homers in the eighth inning. Junior Danny Fifer (Lincoln-Way West HS, New Lenox, Ill.) drove in a run with a fielder's choice as well. All seven runs in the frame were unearned, as Gingerich had reached on a two-out Elmhurst error prior to Fluehr's blast.
 
Freshman Cooper SantAmour (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) and sophomore Darwin Townsend (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) each threw a scoreless inning out of the Viking pen to wrap things up.
 
Davis went seven innings and allowed one run on six hits, walking two and fanning 10 to improve to 3-0 on the season. Fifer and Lenihan each finished the game 3-for-5 and Fluehr was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three driven in. Van Duyne had a pair of hits as well.
 
AUGUSTANA 9, ELMHURST 6
 
Augustana scored four runs in the first inning of the night cap and two in the second, taking a 6-1 lead before holding off an Elmhurst rally to post a 9-6 win.
 
Van Duyne and Jasper opened the game with back-to-back singles and moved to second and third on a Stewart sacrifice. Tenerelli followed with a two-run single to right. After a walk to Lenihan and a single to center from sophomore John Swiderski (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.), Gingerich delivered another two-run single to right for a 4-0 Viking lead.
 
Sophomore Chris Sauer (Rock Canyon HS, Littleton, Colo.) gave up an RBI single to Bluejay Ben Havel in the bottom of the first, but the visitors came right with a pair of runs in the second. Fluehr and Van Duyne drew consecutive walks to start the inning and moved to second and third on a Jasper sacrifice. Fifer then made it 6-1 with a two-run single to center.
 
Wolak led off the Elmhurst third with his second homer of the day, but the Vikings got that run back in the top of the fourth. Struck cut the deficit to 7-3 with a solo homer in the sixth and Wargo's two-run round tripper in the seventh got the Bluejays within 7-5. With runners on first and third, SantAmour, the third Augustana pitcher of the inning, induced an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Tsiodras.
 
The Vikings answered with two in the top of the eighth. Swiderski walked and scored on an error and Fluehr, who reached on that miscue, scored on a Fifer fielder's choice.
 
SantAmour surrendered a run in the eighth, but set the Bluejays down quietly in the ninth to earn his first save.
 
Sauer went 6 1/3 innings and earned the win to move to 3-1 on the year. Fifer, with three hits and three RBI, paced the offense, but got plenty of help from Van Duyne and Jasper (two hits, two runs each) as well as Gingerich and Tenerelli (two hits and two RBI apiece).