FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jake Huber (Lockport HS, Homer Glen, Ill.) knocked in three runs and Sam Cregan (Air Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.) went 7 1/3 solid innings Friday, as Augustana defeated Thiel 8-3 at Terry Park. Coach Greg Wallace's Vikings improved to 8-1-1 on the season, while the Tomcats dropped to 2-4 this spring.

 

Cregan and Thiel starter Sante Carducci had their way through the first four innings, putting up goose eggs until Augustana plated two runs in the top of the fifth.
 
Freshman Matt Helms (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) singled to center with one out and Josh Barker (Windsor HS, Severance, Colo.) and Nick Mosele (University HS, Bloomington, Ill.) followed with walks to load the bases. Freshman Drew Davis' (Illini Bluffs HS, Mapleton, Ill.) infield hit scored Helms and Barker to make it 2-0.
 
The Tomcats cut the deficit in half with a run in the sixth. Alex Lam led off with a single and scored on Joe Mott's two-out hit to left.
 
The Vikings gave Cregan some breathing room with three runs each in the seventh and eighth. Mosele and Huber had RBI singles in the seventh and Tyler Nunez (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) drove in a run with a groundout. In the eighth, Huber's two-run single to left was the big hit.
 
Thiel got to Cregan for a run each in the seventh and eighth, but freshman Bryson Prusator (Mendota HS, Mendota, Ill.) came out of the pen and threw a quiet inning and two-thirds to close things out.
 
Cregan scattered 10 hits and walked just one in 7 1/3 innings to pick up his second win in as many decision this year. He fanned four on the day. Tomcats reliever Dante Vaniel (0-1) absorbed the loss.
 
Huber finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and Davis 2-for-5 with a run scored and two knocked in. Barker scored three times and Helms and Mosele twice each.
 
Augustana continues play at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Saturday, March 9, taking on Otterbein at noon.