CAROL STREAM, Ill.. – Augustana trailed Wheaton 3-2 going to the second inning Friday, but when the top half of the frame was over, Coach Greg Wallace's club led 16-3. Starter Matt Hoban (Monarch HS, Westminster, Colo.) settled in and shut the Thunder out over the next five innings as the Vikings cruised to an 18-3 win at Lee Pfund Stadium. 24th-ranked Augustana improved to 15-3 overall and 7-3 in the CCIW, while Wheaton dropped to 6-12 on the season and 4-8 in the league.
 
Jacob Barker (Windsor HS, Severance, Colo.) started off a big day by drawing a walk to lead off the game. He stole second and scored—along with Matt Ozanic (East Leyden HS, Franklin Park, Ill.), who also walked—on Brett Benedetti's (Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.) two-out, two-run triple to center.
 
The first four batters reached against Hoban in the bottom of the first. Noah Ritchie's bases-loaded double down the left field line scored two to tie it and the go-ahead run scored one out later on an error. Hoban got the last two outs on strikes to keep the deficit at one.
 
Griffen Pschigoda (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) singled leading off the top of second, but Thunder started Kevin Champlin appeared to be in good shape when he retired the next two batters. However, Barker tripled in Pschigoda and scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error. He would be the first of 13 consecutive Vikings to reach. Four straight hits, capped by Benedetti's RBI single to left, made it 7-3 and knocked Champlin out in favor of John McCraith.
 
Wheaton used two other pitchers in the frame as the runs continued to pile up. Barker added a two-run double and Alex Simon (Hinsdale Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) an RBI single before Ozanic capped the outburst with a three-run homer to right, his team-leading third round-tripper of the year. Augustana finished the inning with 14 runs on 11 hits and led 16-3 going to the bottom of the second.
 
Hoban blanked the Thunder for the rest of his six-inning stint and the Vikings added single runs in the fourth and seventh. Max Mead (Lakewood HS, Lakewood, Colo.) came out of the pen and pitched around a one-out walk in a scoreless seventh to end the game early.
 
Hoban improved to 3-1 with the win. He allowed five hits and three runs (two earned) in six innings. He walked four and struck out nine. Champlin (2-2) suffered the loss.
 
Plenty of Vikings had big days offensively. Barker reached in all five plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He scored three runs and knocked in three. Benedetti and Mitchell Owens (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) each finished 3-for-5. Benedetti had three RBI and Owens scored three times. Ozanic was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three driven in and Simon and Pschigoda also had two hits apiece.
 
The teams are schedule to complete their weekend series with a 2:00 p.m. doubleheader at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field on Monday, April 12.