Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Augustana battered seven Illinois Wesleyan pitchers for 18 hits Monday as the Vikings defeated the Titans 18-3 at Horenberger Field. Coach Greg Wallace's club improved to 22-10 overall and 8-7 in the CCIW. IWU fell to 20-9 overall and 10-5 in the league. The game was a make-up of Sunday's rainout.
 
Facing a 3-2 deficit going to the top of the sixth, Augustana got its leadoff runner on when senior Danny Fifer (Lincoln-Way West HS, New Lenox, Ill.) reached on an error. Junior catcher John Swiderski followed with a single to left moving Fifer to second. Freshman left fielder Matt Loeffl (Grayslake Central HS, Grayslake, Ill.) moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice. A single to center by junior second baseman Trace Gingerich (Sherrard HS, Sherrard, Ill.) plated Fifer with the tying run and Swiderski came across with the go-ahead run when senior third baseman Kyle Lenihan (Romeoville HS, Romeoville, Ill.) reach on another IWU miscue.
 
The inning continued with freshman first baseman Tommy Kiriakopoulos (Huntley HS, Lake in the Hills, Ill.) singling to left to load the bases and knock Titan starter Kyle Snedecker out in favor of Mitch Goll. The Vikings added runs on an Alex Fluehr (Harlem HS, Loves Park, Ill.) infield hit, a bases-loaded walk to senior Brandon Jasper (Central HS, DeWitt, Iowa) and a single to center by junior Nathan Gray (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.). Gray's hit gave Augustana a 7-3 lead and knocked Goll out.
 
Reliever Pat Domski didn't fare much better. Fifer drove a two-run single to left. Gray stole third and scored on a wild pitch and after a walk to Swiderski and another pitching change, Gingerich's single to right plated Fifer with the ninth run of the frame, giving Augustana an 11-3 lead.
 
Meanwhile, Viking starter Walter White (East Peoria HS, East Peoria, Ill.), who gave up a two-run homer to Pat Mollo in the first and a Mollo sacrifice fly in the second, settled in and held the Titans scoreless over the next six innings. He scattered 13 hits in eight innings, but gave up just the three early runs and got the win to improve to 5-1 on the year. Junior Chris Sauer (Rock Canyon HS, Littleton, Colo.) set IWU down in the ninth.
 
First-inning doubles by Gray and Swiderski and a single by Loeffl had given Augustana a 2-0 lead before Mollo went to work.
 
Even after the big sixth inning, the Vikings added a run in the eight and another half dozen in the ninth. Jasper had an RBI double in the ninth. Gray, Loeffl and Gingerich had RBI singles and Loeffl scored the final run of the night on a wild pitch.
 
Gray finished 4-for-6 with four runs scored and two driven in. Loeffl was 3-for-4 with two knocked in and Gingerich 3-for-6 with three RBI. Swiderski and Fluehr had a pair of hits each and Fifer scored three times.
 
Augustana hosts a non-conference game with Knox at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field on Wednesday, April 22.