Box Score

MOLINE, Ill. – Augustana got its bats going early Sunday, pounding five Carroll pitchers for 18 hits—including eight that went for extra bases—and defeating the Pioneers 18-5 at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. The final game of a three game series originally scheduled for Waukesha, Wisconsin started at 9:00 a.m. in an effort to avoid forecast rain. The 15h-ranked Vikings improved to 17-3 on the year and 3-1 in the CCIW, while Carroll dropped to 5-13 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
 
The barrage of runs started in the top of the second, after senior ace Zach Morgenstern (Peoria Notre Dame HS, East Peoria, Ill.) fanned consecutive batters to leave Pioneers stranded at second and third in the bottom of the first. John Moraski (Kewanee HS, Kewanee, Ill.) led off the second with a double off the left field wall and scored on an RBI groundout by Cayton Wallace (Assumption HS, Rock Island, Ill.).
 
Augustana had its first of four straight three-run innings in the third. Mitchel Ruh (Hinckley-Big Rock HS, Big Rock, Ill.) reached on a two-out error and Moraksi walked to bring senior Peter Doughty (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) to the plate. The Viking designated hitter drove a Cam Godinsky offering over the wall down the right field line for a three-run homer and a 4-0 Augustana lead.
 
Junior Carter Amundsen (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.) had an RBI double and Ruh and sophomore Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) run-scoring singles in a three-run fourth. Justin Joy's (Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.) two-run double to left center was the big hit in a three-run Viking fifth that put Augustana up 10-0.
 
After giving up just one hit since the first two batters of the game, Morgenstern struggled with control problems in the bottom of the fifth. Four walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed Carroll to plate two runs without the benefit of a hit.
 
Junior Tyler Nunez (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) had a two-run single to center in the Vikings' three-run sixth and Augustana's lead was 13-2 after five and a half.
 
Freshman right-hander Levi Palomo (Barrington HS, South Barrington, Ill.) made his varsity debut, relieving Morgenstern to start the bottom of the sixth and set the Pioneers down while throwing just one pitch out of the strike zone. However, he ran into control problems in the seventh, walking the bases full before leaving in favor of junior Mitch Malone (Minooka HS, Minooka, Ill.). A passed ball allowed one Carroll run to score and Nolan Heck singled in two more to make it 13-5, avoiding the 10-run rule and extending the contest to the eighth inning.
 
After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, the Vikings put five on the board in the ninth. Doughty drove in a run with a double and Nunez had a two-run two-bagger. Another freshman, Travis Gates (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) made his varsity mound debut in the bottom of the ninth and after issuing a leadoff walk, retired three straight to close out the game.
 
Augustana had eight players log multiple hits, led by Wallace's three. Doughty scored four runs and knocked in four and Nunez also had four RBI. Joy, Wallace and Moraski each scored three times and Joy drove in three runs as well.
 
Morgenstern earned his sixth win in as many starts this year. He allowed three hits and two runs, fanning seven and surviving six walks. Malone threw two scoreless innings and Gates one out of the pen. Godinsky took the loss for the Pioneers, who committed seven errors, resulting in nine unearned runs.
 
Coach Greg Wallace's club is scheduled to face Elmhurst on the road on Wednesday, April 5, followed by a doubleheader with the Bluejays at Swanson/Brunner on Saturday, April 8.