Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. – Elmhurst's Ben Modesitt stymied Augustana's recently hot bats Wednesday, scattering six hits over eight strong innings as the Bluejays defeated the Vikings 3-1 at Butterfield Park in the finale of the teams' season series. Augustana, ranked 20th in the latest D3baseball.com poll, dropped to 19-6 overall and 6-3 in the CCIW. Elmhurst improved to 7-14 on the season and 2-7 in the league.
 
All of the runs in the contest came in the third inning. In the top half, senior Danny Fifer (Lincoln-Way West HS, New Lenox, Ill.) reached on a two-out Bluejay error. He moved to second when junior John Swiderski (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) was hit by a Modesitt offering. Junior Trace Gingerich (Sherrard HS, Sherrard, Ill.) followed with an RBI single to right, plating Fifer with the Vikings' only run.
 
Elmhurst answered with three in the bottom of the frame. A.J. Compton, Brandon Kressner and Ben Havel had consecutive singles off Augustana starter Kevin Hodgman (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) to start the inning, loading the bases for cleanup hitter Zach Tsiodras. The Bluejay catcher singled to center, scoring Compton with the tying run. Kressner scored the go-ahead run on a Viking error and Havel scored an insurance run on a double play grounder.
 
Augustana mounted challenges against Modesitt (1-0) in the fifth and eighth innings. Senior Brandon Jasper (Central HS, DeWitt, Iowa) led off the fifth with a single up the middle. He moved to second on a ground out and to third on a wild pitch, but was stranded there. In the eighth, Swiderski led off with a hit but was cut down trying to stretch it to a double. Gingerich followed with a single, but was left on second as the inning ended.
 
Hodgman (1-2) was a tough-luck loser in his second consecutive quality start. He pitched around a two-out single, a batter reaching on a dropped third strike and a walk in the first, leaving the bases full of Bluejays. With the exception of the third inning, he allowed just two other baserunners, neither of which advanced past first base. He gave up seven hits and walked one while fanning nine in seven innings. Only two of the three Elmhurst runs against him were earned.
 
Gingerich had half of the Vikings' six hits.
 
Modesitt (1-0) won in his first start of the season. Justin Theisen threw a perfect ninth to pick up his first save.
 
Augustana faces North Park in a key three-game set this weekend. The series begins on Saturday, April 11, with a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader in Chicago, Illinois.