MOLINE, Ill. – Augustana batted around four times in 12 innings Monday, including three straight frames in the nightcap, on its way to a 9-4, 17-3 doubleheader sweep of Wheaton at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. The 24th-ranked Vikings improved to 17-3 on the season and 9-3 in the CCIW, while the Thunder fell to 6-14 overall and 4-10 in the league. Coach
Greg Wallace's club is back in action at Swanson/Brunner on Wednesday, April 14, hosting North Park at 5:00 p.m.
AUGUSTANA 9, WHEATON 4
Wheaton took a 3-0 lead in the opener, getting a run in the third on a Ben Weaver sacrifice fly and two in the fourth on a throwing error and a bases-loaded walk.
The Thunder's Jacob Garrity blanked Augustana through three innings, but
Brett Benedetti (Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.) reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Benedetti scored the Vikings' first run on another Wheaton miscue before
Alex Simon (Hinsdale Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) had a two-run single which plated another run on an outfield error.
Matt Ozanic (East Leyden HS, Franklin Park, Ill.) added a two-run double and Benedetti capped a seven-run inning with an RBI two-bagger. Garrity left after Benedetti's hit, having not allowed an earned run.
The Thunder cut it to 7-4 with a run in the top of the fifth, but Augustana answered with one each in the fifth and sixth.
Jacob Reusch (Mercer County HS, Aledo, Ill.) relieved Viking starter
Harrison Boushele (Grandview HS, Aurora, Colo.) to start the sixth and faced the minimum in his two innings. Per an agreement between coaches, the contest ended after seven innings.
Boushele (2-1) got the win. He gave up seven hits and three earned runs in five innings. Garrity (0-3) suffered the loss.
Benedetti,
Mitchell Owens (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) and
Alec McGinnis (Normal West HS, Normal, Ill.) each had two hits. Benedetti and McGinnis scored twice, while Ozanic knocked in a pair.
AUGUSTANA 17, WHEATON 3
After leaving two runners stranded in each of the first two innings of the nightcap, Augustana batted around in the third, fourth and fifth, putting a total of 16 runs on the board.
Benedetti,
Zachary Vrbancic (Stagg HS, Palos Hills, Ill.) and Owens each had a two-run single in an eight-run Viking third and Ozanic added another in a three-run fourth. Augustana left the bases loaded in both of those frames. Owens had a two-run single in the fifth and
Michael Gattuso (St. Charles North HS, St.Charles, Ill.) and Ozanic also delivered run-scoring hits, as the Vikings added five more.
Meanwhile, after Augustana starter
Alec Michaelson (Willowbrook HS, Lombard, Ill.) retired 11 straight batters, Wheaton got to him for three in the top of the fifth. Mason Packwood pulled a homer to right, Graham Core scored on a groundout and Matthias Haggerty drove in a run with a double.
Michaelson left two runners stranded in the sixth before exiting in favor of
Anthony Sus (Grandview HS, Englewood, Colo.) to start the seventh.
The Vikings added their final run in the sixth when
Matt Mosele (Normal Community HS, Bloomington, Ill.) drew a one-out walk and scored on a double to right by Gattuso.
Michaelson (3-0) scattered seven hits, walked none and fanned three to pick up the win. Thunder starter Sam Arnold (0-1) took the loss.
Owens went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four knocked in. Vrbancic was 3-for-3 with three scored and two driven in and Ozanic finished 3-for-3 with three RBI.
