Box Score

MOLINE, Ill. – Senior Zach Morgenstern (Peoria Notre Dame HS, East Peoria, Ill.) allowed just one hit and fanned eight in 8 1/3 innings Wednesday, leading Augustana to a 3-1 win over Cornell at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. Coach Greg Wallace's 16th-ranked Vikings improved to 13-1 on the season, while the visiting Rams fell to 2-7.
 
While Morgenstern was retiring the first ten batters he faced, his teammates were staking him to a 3-0 lead. The hosts scored two in the second. Senior Mitchel Ruh (Hinckley-Big Rock HS, Big Rock, Ill.) led off with a single to center and junior John Moraski (Kewanee HS, Kewanee, Ill.) followed with a single to left. A sacrifice by senior Cayton Wallace (Assumption HS, Rock Island, Ill.) moved the runners to second and third and they scored on Peter Doughty's (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) two-run single to right. When sophomore Nick Mosele (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) followed with a double to left center, it looked like Augustana would add to the lead. However, Doughty's slide at the plate came up a bit short and he was retired.
 
The Vikings did add a run in the third. A pair of Cornell errors and a walk led to an unearned run off Ram starter Eric Daubach. Junior Carter Amundsen (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.) made it 3-0 when he scored on a wild pitch.
 
T. J. Rausch's one-out double in the fourth was the first baserunner allowed  by Morgenstern and he gave up just two more—on a walk and an error—until the ninth inning.
 
Daubach settled in and stymied Augustana until leaving with two out in the eighth. He stranded a pair of runners in the seventh and with the help of reliever Zach Greenwald, pitched around a leadoff single in the eighth.
 
A pair of walks in the ninth ended Morgenstern's evening in favor of senior Casey Weir (Warren HS, Wadsworth, Ill.). Lucas Larson's single to center plated Joe Orisek with Cornell's only run, but Weir got John Tenesky to fly to Justin Joy (Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.) in center to end the game.
 
Eight of the nine men in the Viking lineup had a hit, including Ruh, who had a pair. Morgenstern improved to 4-0 with the win and Weir earned his second save of the season. Daubach (0-2) suffered the loss.
 
Augustana is scheduled to play a doubleheader versus Rockford on Saturday, March 25. First pitch at Swanson/Brunner is set for 1:00 p.m.