Box Score

MOLINE, Ill. – Augustana battered five Millikin pitchers for 20 hits Sunday and grabbed a share of the 2016 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championship with a 14-5 win over the Big Blue on Senior Day at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. The Vikings improved to 27-12 on the year and 15-6 in the league. The Big Blue fell to 16-22 overall and 5-16 in the conference. Coach Greg Wallace's club tied North Central atop the league standings and earned home field advantage for this week's CCIW Tournament by virtue of wins in two of three meetings with the Cardinals.
 
Nathan Gray's (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) leadoff triple and a Jeff Prior (Rock Canyon HS, Lone Tree, Colo.) sacrifice fly put the hosts on top 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Millikin's Keith Askins tied it with a solo homer to left in the top of the second, but the Vikings took the lead for good with a run in the bottom half. Prior's infield hit plated freshman Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) with the go-ahead run.
 
Augustana continued to pile on runs. Kairis had a two-run double in the third to make it 4-1 and senior Alex Fluehr (Harlem HS, Loves Park, Ill.) had another in the fifth. Kairis scored on a wild pitch in the fifth and the Vikings led 7-1.
 
The Big Blue got to starter Chris Sauer (Rock Canyon HS, Littleton,Colo.) for three runs—one of which was unearned—in the top of the sixth, but once again Augustana responded, putting up four in the bottom half. The big hit was Kairis' three-run double and Fluehr knocked in another run with a two-bagger.
 
Two Viking errors led to another unearned run for Millikin in the top of the seventh before Augustana scored the game's final three runs in the eighth. Junior Mitchel Ruh (Hinckley-Big Rock HS, Big Rock, Ill.) and senior Trace Gingerich (Sherrard HS, Sherrard, Ill.) each had RBI singles.
 
Sophomore Brad Dubow (Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) came out of the pen and threw two shutout innings. He fanned Lucas Stefan to end the game and start the Vikings' celebration.
 
Sauer allowed six hits and three earned runs in seven solid innings. He walked three and fanned four and improved to 6-2 on the season.
 
Kairis finished the afternoon 4-for-5 with two runs scored and five driven in. Gingerich went 4-for-6. Prior and Ruh each had three hits and Fluehr and sophomore Carter Amundsen (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.) two each. Fluehr had three RBI and sophomore Jack Hallmark (Cherry Creek HS, Evergreen, Colo.) scored three times.
 
In addition to Sauer, Gray, Prior, Gingerich and Fluehr, Augustana honored catcher John Swiderski (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) and pitchers Walter White (East Peoria HS, East Peoria, Ill.) and Darwin Townsend (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) on Senior Day.
 
The CCIW Tournament will open on Thursday, May 12 at Swanson/Brunner. Second-seeded North Central and third seed Illinois Wesleyan will square off at 3:30 p.m. with the top-seeded Vikings hosting fourth seed Carthage at 7:00 p.m.