MOLINE, Ill. –  Matt Ozanic (East Leyden HS, Franklin Park, Ill.) hit a two-out, three-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning Wednesday to lift Augustana to a 5-2 win over Elmhurst at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. Coach Greg Wallace's club improved to 10-2 on the season and 2-2 in the CCIW, while the Bluejays dropped to 6-5 overall and 2-3 in the league.
 
With the score tied 2-2, Zachary Vrbancic (Stagg HS, Palos Hills, Ill.) worked J.D. Knight for a walk leading off the bottom of the 10th. Jacob Barker (Windsor HS, Severance, Colo.) sacrificed him to second and Elmhurst chose to intentionally walk Alex Simon (Hinsdale Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) before calling on Cole Bozzi from the pen. The Bluejay closer got Kyle Wise (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) to ground to second, with the runners moving to second and third.
 
That brought Ozanic to the plate and the Viking designated hitter drove an offering from the Elmhurst southpaw over the right field fence for his second homer of the year.
 
Starters Sam Cregan (Air Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Noah Jordan had their way early on. Jordan fanned four in holding Augustana hitless through three innings and Cregan gave up just two hits while striking out six Bluejays through five frames.
 
The hosts got to Jordan for a run in the fourth. Matt Helms (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) had a two-out single through the left side, moved to second when Ozanic was hit by a pitch and scored the game's first run on Mitchell Owens' (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) double to right center.
 
Elmhurst took the lead and knocked out Cregan with a pair of runs in the sixth. Tyler Kledzik singled leading off and came around to score the tying run on a Trey Romay double. That brought Josh Wintroub (Heritage HS, Littleton, Colo.) out of pen. He fanned the first batter he faced, but one batter later Lorenzo Farino slapped a single through the left side to plate Romay with the go-ahead run.
 
The Vikings tied in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Griffen Pschigoda (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) doubled off the glove of a diving Farino in left and came around to score when Brett Benedetti (Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.) lined a single over the shortstop's head. Knight came on in relief of Jordan and held the Vikings until the 10th.
 
Augustana closer John Hayes (Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.) came on in relief of Josh Chamberlain (Legacy HS, Thornton, Colo.) following a Romay single leading off the eighth. He handcuffed the Bluejays for the final three innings to earn his second win in as many decisions. He allowed one hit and struck out four.
 
Knight suffered the loss, falling to 1-1 on the year.
 
The Vikings open a three-game weekend set versus North Park with a doubleheader in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday, March 27. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.