Box Score

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Augustana baseball team bounced back from its first loss of the spring in convincing fashion Monday, pounding Concordia (Minn.) 13-3 at Lake Myrtle Park #7. The Vikings battered Cobber pitching for 17 hits to improve to 3-1 on the year.
 
Junior Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) started the hit parade with a leadoff single in the top of the first. He scored the game's first run on an RBI grounder by senior Carter Amundsen (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.). Tyler Nunez (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.), who had followed Kairis' hit with one of his own, scored on a Gunnar Haskins (Alleman HS, Moline, Ill.) single to make it 2-0 Augustana after a half inning.
 
While Viking starter Connor Berek (Riverside-Brookfield HS, Brookfield, Ill.) was putting up goose eggs for six innings, he teammates continued to add runs.
 
Jack Hallmark's (Cherry Creek HS, Englewood, Colo.) one-out single sparked a four-run second. Kairis, Nunez and Amundsen followed with singles. Amundsen's plated a pair of runs. Another run scored on a Concordia error and Mike Avella (Crystal Lake South HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) had an RBI groundout to made it 6-0 after an inning and a half.
 
Augustana added single runs in the third and fifth. Senior Matt Loeffl (Grayslake HS, Grayslake, Ill.) led off the third with a triple and scored on a Ryan Grannemann (McHenry West HS, McHenry, Ill.) sacrifice fly. Sophomore Jake Huber (Lockport HS, Homer Glen, Ill.) reached on an error to lead off the fifth and eventually scored to extend the Viking lead to 8-0.
 
The Cobbers finally got to Berek in the seventh. Nate Leintz led off with a homer and a pair of Augustana miscues, including one by Berek, led to two more Concordia runs. Sophomore Travis Gates (Prospect HS, Mt, Prospect, Ill.) came out of the pen and fanned Austin Ver Steeg to end the inning.
 
Five more Viking runs in the top of the eighth and a 1-2-3 bottom half by Gates ended the contest via mercy rule.
 
Berek (1-0) went 6 2/3 innings for the win. He allowed seven hits and three runs, just one of which was earned. Gates fanned three of the four batters he faced in a 1 1/3-inning stint. Cobber starter Cole Christensen took the loss.
 
The top of Coach Greg Wallace's order paced the Augustana attack. Kairis finished 4-for-6 with three runs scored. Nunez was 3-for-6 and scored twice and Amundsen was 2-for-6 with three knocked in. Loeffl, Grannemann and Hallmark each had two hits as well.
 
On Tuesday, February 2, the Vikings will face Alma at 10:30 a.m. EST at Chain of Lakes Stadium.