Box Score

FT. MYERS, Fla. – Alex Fluehr (Harlem HS, Loves Park, Ill.) used his bat and Zach Morgenstern (Peoria Notre Dame HS, East Peoria, Ill.) contributed with his arm and the result was a 5-2 Augustana win over Bethel on Friday, March 18 in Ft. Myers, Florida. Fluehr drove in all five Viking runs and Morgenstern went eight strong innings on the hill to pick up his third win of the season against just one loss.
 
Fluehr cracked a two run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning with junior Cayton Wallace (Davenport Assumption HS, Rock Island, Ill.) aboard after singling to give Augustana a 2-0 lead. That was short lived because the Royals put two runs up in the top of the sixth when they touched Morgenstern for a trio of hits. However, Morgenstern recorded a huge strikeout to end the inning with Bethel having the bases loaded.
 
Heading into the bottom of the eighth inning the game was still knotted at 2-2 when Fluehr came up with the bases loaded and two out. Junior Mitchel Ruh (Hinckley-Big Rock HS, Big Rock, Ill.) walked with one out and freshman Peter Doughty (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) pinch hit and singled Ruh to third. On the throw Doughty scampered to second. Junior Justin Joy (Carl Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.) came in to run for Doughty and promptly stole second. After a strikeout, Wallace coaxed a walk out of Royal reliever Matt Herringshaw.
 
That brought up Fluehr and he laced a triple down the right field line to clear the bases and give the Vikings a 5-2 lead.
 
Morgenstern gave way to junior Nick Refka (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) and Refka rang up two strikeouts as he retired the side in order in the ninth and picked up the save.
 
In addition to his five runs-batted-in, Fluehr finished the afternoon with a total of three hits and one run scored. He also had a put-out and five assists in the field. The Vikings were flawless in the field after committing three errors in one inning the day before in a 4-2 loss to Wisconsin-Stout.
 
Centerfielder Nathan Gray (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) had two hits as Augustana notched nine for the day.
 
The Vikings are now 8-4 on the season and will play Wisconsin-Platteville at 12:00 noon on Saturday, March 19 in Ft. Myers.