Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Augustana's offense and pitching were both in fine form Saturday as the Vikings opened the 2018 baseball season with a pair of wins at Chain of Lakes Stadium. Coach Greg Wallace's club defeated Capital 10-1 and Grove City 14-2, pounding out a total of 26 hits while four hurlers combined to surrender just two earned runs on the day. Augustana (2-0) is back in action against Hanover on Sunday, February 25 at 11:00 a.m. EST.
 
AUGUSTANA 10, CAPITAL 1
 
A four-run fourth inning provided opening-game starter Mike Powers (Benet Academy, Westmont, Ill.) with all the support he would need in a 10-1 win over Capital. Junior catcher Ryan Grannemann (McHenry West HS, McHenry, Ill.) led off the frame with a single and eventually scored on a Tyler Nunez (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) two-run double. Junior Gunnar Haskins (Alleman HS, Moline, Ill.) delivered an RBI double as well.
 
After the Crusaders scraped out an unearned run in the top of the fifth, the Vikings answered with their own in the bottom half.
 
Junior Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) had a one-out single in the seventh and Haskins knocked him in with a single to make it 6-1 Augustana.
 
The Vikings put the game away with four more in the eighth. Senior Matt Loeffl (Grayslake Central HS, Grayslake, Ill.) got things started with a leadoff single. Augustana eventually scored two runs on bases-loaded walks and senior Carter Amundsen (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.) provided the icing with a two-run double.
 
Freshman Matt Hoban (Monarch HS, Westminster, Colo.) set Capital down in order in the ninth.
 
Powers (1-0) gave up just three hits and an unearned run in six innings of work to earn the win. He walked one and fanned nine. Senior Mitch Malone (Minooka HS, Minooka, Ill.) threw two scoreless innings out of the pen. Crusader starter Joseph Borkey took the loss.
 
Kairis scored four times from his leadoff spot. Nunez went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Haskins was 2-for-4 with two knocked in and Amundsen drove in a pair as well.
 
AUGUSTANA 14, GROVE CITY 2
 
In Augustana's second game of the day, the Vikings jumped on Grove City starter Micah Burke for four runs in the top of the first. Kairis reached on an error to lead off the contest and eventually scored on a Haskins single. Sophomore Jake Huber (Lockport HS, Homer Glen, Ill.) followed with an RBI triple and Loeffl and senior John Moraski (Kewanee HS, Kewanee, Ill.) each added run-scoring doubles.
 
Wallace's starter, sophomore Chris Refka (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.), walked in a run in the bottom half, but escaped further damage when Bobby Dulay lined to Huber at first and he fanned Shane Hammel to end the inning.
 
Burke settled in and posted five straight goose eggs and helped his own cause with a leadoff double in the fourth. Dulay singled him in to make it 4-2 Augustana.
 
Burke moved to third base in favor of reliever Bubba Hamilton to start the seventh and the Vikings hung ten on the board. Loeffl, junior Clint Ugolini (Badger HS, Lake Geneva, Wis.) and Haskins all had two-run singles. Senior Jack Hallmark (Cherry Creek HS, Englewood, Colo.) and Nunez drove in a runs with a single and sacrifice fly, respectively and Huber capped the outburst with a two-run double.
 
Freshman Josh Chamberlain (Legacy HS, Thornton, Colo.) set the Wolverines down in the  bottom of the seventh to end the game via mercy rule.
 
Huber finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three knocked in. Haskins and Loeffl were each 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three driven in and Nunez, Moraski and Hallmark each added two of Augustana's 16 hits.
 
Refka (1-0) gave up seven hits and two runs in a six-inning stint, walking two with eight strikeouts. Burke suffered the loss despite not giving up an earned run.