JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Augustana's offense produced 23 runs on 30 hits, including four home runs, Saturday and reliever Josh Wintroub (Heritage HS, Littleton, Colo.) threw five scoreless innings in the nightcap, as the Vikings defeated Illinois College 12-10 and 11-4 in a twin bill at Joe Brooks Field. Coach Greg Wallace's club improved to 5-0 on the season, while the host Blueboys fell to 1-5. Augustana is scheduled to host Cornell in a noon doubleheader at Swanson Stadium-Brunner Field on Thursday, March 11.
 
AUGUSTANA 12, ILLINOIS COLLEGE 10
 
Mitchell Owens (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) staked Augustana starter Harrison Boushele (Grandview HS, Aurora, Colo.) to an early lead when he pounded a one-out, two-run homer in the top of the first off Zach Neal. The Vikings added four runs in the second. Brett Benedetti (Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, Colo.) started off a big game with a leadoff double. Freshman Alec McGinnis (Normal West HS, Normal, Ill.) singled in Benedetti and after a Zachary Vrbancic (Stagg HS, Palos Hills, Ill.) hit, freshman Alex Simon (Hinsdale Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) singled to center, scoring both runners. Simon made it 6-0 when he scored on a passed ball.
 
Illinois College's Cade Hennemann drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second and scored on a Griffin King single.
 
Wallace's club continued to add runs, plating three in the third on Matt Helms' (Palatine HS, Palatine, Ill.) bases-loaded double and two more in the fourth to go up 11-1. However,  the Blueboys got a three-run homer from King in a four-run fourth to knock out Boushele and Kellen Blum touched reliever Max Mead (Lakewood HS, Lakewood, Colo.) for a two-run double in the fifth as they cut the deficit to 11-7.
 
Benedetti had a two-out solo homer in the top of the seventh and Illinois College answered with three runs off Josh Chamberlain (Legacy HS, Thornton, Colo.) in the bottom half to pull to within 12-10. King knocked in two with a single.
 
After Chamberlain set the Blueboys down in order in the eighth, closer John Hayes (Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, Colo.) came on to start the bottom of the ninth and worked around a two-out single to earn his second save of the season.
 
Benedetti and McGinnis both finished 4-for-6 with three runs scored. Helms went 3-for-5 with three driven in and Simon was 2-for-3 with two scored and two knocked in. Chamberlain (1-0) was credited with the win. King went 4-for-5 with six RBI for Illinois College. Neal (0-2) suffered the loss.
 
AUGUSTANA 11, ILLINOIS COLLEGE 4
 
The Viking bats got it going quickly again in game two. Helms' first-inning sacrifice fly scored Simon, who had singled, with the game's first run. Augustana added two more in the frame and four in the second, when Simon had an RBI single and Helms drove in a run with a double.
 
Henneman tagged Viking starter Sam Cregan (Air Academy, Colorado Springs,  Colo.) for a three-run homer in the bottom of the second and James Marcinkowski added a leadoff blast in the fourth to trim Augustana's lead to 7-4.
 
Matt Ozanic (East Leyden HS, Franklin Park, Ill.) had a two-run single in the sixth and added a solo homer in the eighth to make it 10-4.  The Vikings' final run came on Griffen Pschigoda's (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) second home run of the year, a solo shot in the top of the ninth.
 
Meanwhile, Wintroub came on in relief of Cregan to start the fifth and closed things out with five scoreless innings. He surrendered three hits, walked none and fanned eight to earn the win. Simon and Owens each produced three hits and three runs scored. Ozanic went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Helms (two RBI), Vrbancic and Pschigoda each had two hits as well.
 
Blueboy starter Cullen McBride (0-1) lasted just an inning and two-thirds and absorbed the loss.