Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MOLINE, Ill. – As it battles for a berth in the upcoming CCIW Tournament, the Augustana baseball team did itself a huge favor on Saturday, downing North Park 7-0 and 10-6 in a doubleheader at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. The hosts improved to 22-12 on the season and 10-9 and in fourth place in conference, just a half-game back of the third-place visitors, now 15-8 overall and 10-8 in the league. The teams will complete their three-game series with a single contest on Sunday, April 29 in Chicago, Illinois. An Augustana win would lift the Vikings above their namesakes from North Park in the league standings.
 
AUGUSTANA 7, NORTH PARK 0
 
In the opener, Viking ace Mike Powers (Benet Academy, Downers Grove, Ill.) gave up just five singles in a complete-game shutout.
 
After Powers stranded two NPU runners in the top of the first, his teammates got him the only run he would need in the bottom half. Carter Amundsen (Sheboygan South HS, Sheboygan, Wis.) and John Moraski (Kewanne HS, Kewanee, Ill.) were both hit by Justin Woolbright pitches and Gunnar Haskins (Alleman HS, Moline, Ill.) doubled down the right field line to score Amundsen with the game's first run.
 
The hosts scored in each of the fifth through eighth innings to pull away. Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) reached on an error and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the fifth. Jake Huber (Lockport HS, Homer Glen, Ill.) also reached on an error in the sixth and scored on Jack Hallmark's (Cherry Creek HS, Englewood, Colo.) squeeze bunt. Tyler Nunez (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) had an infield hit in the inning and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0. Ryan Grannemann (McHenry West HS, McHenry, Ill.) had an RBI double in a two-run seventh and Kairis another in the eighth to account for the final.
 
Powers walked just one and fanned five on the way to his sixth win in eight decisions this year. Woolbright fell 1-2 with the loss. Moraski, Haskins, Nunez and Hallmark each had two hits for Augustana.
 
AUGUSTANA 10, NORTH PARK 6
 
The hosts scored four runs in the seventh inning of the nightcap, wiping out a 6-4 deficit to go up 8-6, then added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth.
 
With Augustana trailing 6-4 going to the bottom of the seventh, Huber and Nunez had consecutive singles to start the inning. After a Hallmark sacrifice, Amundsen singled to right, scoring both runners to tie it at 6-6. Kairis followed with a hit before Moraski singled in Amundsen with the go-ahead run. Matt Loeffl's (Grayslake Central HS, Grayslake, Ill.) RBI single capped the four-run frame and gave Augustana an 8-6 lead.
 
Nunez and Amundsen each had a sacrifice fly in the eighth to to make it 10-6.
 
Freshman starter Matt Hoban (Monarch HS, Westminster, Colo.) was forced to leave with an injury after facing just three batters in the top of the first and North Park took the lead on Cullen Gilbertson's RBI single. Moraski and Haskins had RBI singles as Augustana took the lead with three in the bottom half.
 
Connor Berek (Riverside-Brookfield HS, Brookfield, Ill.) relieved Hoban and gave Coach Greg Wallace four solid innings, although North Park touched him for three runs in the fourth. The visitors added two unearned runs in the sixth off Mitch Malone (Minooka HS, Minooka, Ill.).
 
Freshman John Hayes (Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.) threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to win his first collegiate decision. Classmate Joshua Chamberlain (Legacy HS, Thornton, Colo.) went the final inning and a third to earn his first save.
 
Amundsen went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and four driven in. Kairis, Moraski and Huber had two hits apiece and Karis, Huber and Hallmark each scored twice.