CHICAGO, Ill. – Augustana and North Park split a doubleheader Saturday at the Holmgren Athletic Complex. The Vikings from Rock Island erupted for a 14-1 game-one win, but their namesakes from Chicago
Senior Nick Mosele had three hits,
including two RBI doubles, in Saturday's
doubleheader split at North Park.
bounced back to win the nightcap by a score of 4-3. Coach
Greg Wallace's club is now 12-5-1 on the season and 2-1 in the CCIW, while the hosts moved to 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the CCIW. The teams are scheduled to complete their three-game set on Sunday, March 31 at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field in Moline, Illinois beginning at 1:00 p.m.
AUGUSTANA 14, NORTH PARK 1
Wallace's bunch took control of the opener with five runs off Josh Ward in the top of the first.
Ryan Kairis (Marist HS, Chicago, Ill.) led off the game with a single to right and scored on a single to center by
Ryan Grannemann (McHenry West HS, McHenry, Ill.).
Will Troia (Boylan Catholic HS, Rockford, Ill.) capped the inning with a three-run double to center.
Starter
Matt Hoban (Monarch HS, Westminster, Colo.) balked in a North Park run in the bottom of the first, but a Kairis throw from center cut down another potential run at the plate and the sophomore right-hander settled in and blanked NPU for the rest of his six-inning stint.
The visitors extended their lead to 6-1 with a run in the fifth and ended the game an inning early by adding eight more in the seventh and eighth.
Gunnar Haskins (Alleman HS, Moline, Ill.) and
Matt Helms (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) had RBI singles in a three-run seventh and Troia got his fourth RBI of the contest, drawing a bases-loaded walk.
Nick Mosele's (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) RBI double to center capped a five-run eighth.
Josh Chamberlain (Legacy HS, Thornton, Colo.) set North Park down in order in the bottom of the eighth to complete two innings of scoreless relief.
Helms (3-for-4, two runs, two RBI) and Grannemann (2-for 5, three runs, two RBI) led a 12-hit Augustana attack. Troia knocked in four runs and Haskins three. Hoban (1-1) allowed four hits and walked three to earn the win. Ward (1-2) lasted 5 1/3 innings and took the loss.
NORTH PARK 4, AUGUSTANA 3
In the nightcap, NPU starter Justin Woolbright stranded a pair of Augustana runners in the top of the second and his teammates staked him to a 2-0 lead in the bottom half, getting a pair of RBI groundouts against
Connor Berek (Riverside-Brookfield HS, Brookfield, Ill.).
Mosele's double down the left field line in the top of the fourth plated Helms to cut the deficit in half, but the hosts answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Cullen Gilbertson had an RBI double and Ranko Stefanovic drove in a run with a single to make it 4-1 North Park.
Kairis pulled a two-out double down the right field line in the sixth, scoring Mosele and
Nick Kirk (Cary-Grove HS, Cary, Ill.) to draw Augustana to within 4-3, but Ethan Sund came out of the NPU pen to shut the door with three hitless innings of relief.
Mosele finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and one driven in. Berek (1-2) gave up eight hits and four runs, walking two and fanning seven in five innings.
Vince O'Meara (Alleman HS, Moline, Ill.) finished up with three hitless innings out of the pen. Woolbright moved to 3-0 with the win and Sund picked up his first save.
