Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Zach Morgenstern (Peoria Notre Dame HS, East Peoria, Ill.) went the distance on the mound Friday, leading Augustana to a 4-3 win over host and top seed North Central at the CCIW Tournament. The teams will square off again on Saturday, May 13 at noon. A Viking win would earn Coach Greg Wallace's team, now 30-12 on the season, a second straight tournament title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. A Cardinal win would necessitate a winner-take-all game 30 minutes later.
 
After North Central's Austin Polezoes set Augustana down in order in the top of the first, the Cardinals got to Morgenstern for an unearned run in the bottom half. Michael Mateja led off with a single and moved to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Jeremy Quade's single to left scored Mateja with the game's first run.
 
The Vikings tied it with a run in the second and took the lead with another in the third. Junior Matt Loeffl (Grayslake Central HS, Grayslake, Ill.) and senior Cayton Wallace (Assumption HS, Rock Island, Ill.) had consecutive one-out singles in the second and Jake Huber's (Lockport HS, Homer Glen, Ill.) two-out single to right plated Loeffl with the tying run. Carter Amundsen (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.) led off the third with a bunt single and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by senior Mitchel Ruh (Hinckley-Big Rock HS, Big Rock, Ill.).
 
Augustana added a run in the fifth. Peter Doughty (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) punched a one-out single to left and moved to third on Ruh' single to center. Loeffl followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Doughty to make it 3-1.
 
Doughty singled in Amundsen in the seventh for a 4-1 Viking lead.
 
Morgenstern began to labor in the eighth. Mateja led off and worked the count full before singling to left. Quade moved him to second with a single to right center. After a Nick Sotiros strikeout, Chris Hill cut the deficit in half with an RBI single to right center. John Carmody drew a base-on-balls to load the bases and Sing Fong's sacrifice fly to right scored Quade to get North Central within a run. Morgenstern escaped further damage, making pinch-hitter Robert Zebrauskas his 10th strikeout victim of the afternoon.
 
Polzoes set Augustana down in order in the top of the ninth and despite having already thrown 149 pitches, Morgenstern headed back out for the bottom half. He got Adam Nelson to pop to third before walking Matt Sutherland to bring up the top of the order. The senior right-hander finished with a flourish, however, fanning Mateja swinging and Quade looking to end the game.
 
Morgenstern scattered seven hits and allowed two earned runs in a 166-pitch odyssey. He walked four and fanned a dozen, becoming just the fourth pitcher in school history to record 100 or more strikeouts in a season. The complete game was his third of the year and he improved to 8-1 with the win. Polzoes (3-3) went the distance as well, giving up 10 hits, walking one and fanning three.
 
Amundsen, Doughty and Wallace led the Viking offense with two hits each and Amundsen scored twice. Mateja and Quade each had a pair of hits for the Cardinals.
 
Later on Friday, North Central eliminated Illinois Wesleyan, winning 2-0 to set up Saturday's matchup.