ELMHURST, Ill. – Augustana homered six times Saturday—including three by
Mitchell Owens (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) and two by
Michael Gattuso (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles, Ill.)—and closed the regular season with a 12-5, 7-3 doubleheader sweep of Elmhurst at Butterfield Park. The 25th-ranked Vikings improved to 33-7 on the season and finished 25-7 and second in the CCIW. They'll open conference tournament play at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 19 against the Bluejays, who moved to 17-23 overall and 12-20 in the league.
AUGUSTANA 12, ELMHURST 5
Augustana put six on the board in the first inning of the opener. Gattuso touched Elmhurst starter Jaysn Miller for a leadoff homer.
Alex Simon (Hinsdale Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) drew a walk and Owens' big day started with a two-run round-tripper to left center.
Brett Benedetti (Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.) and Gattuso added RBI singles in the frame.
Simon walked again leading off the second and Owens drilled another homer to make it 8-0. In the fourth,
Kyle Wise (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Benedetti had a two-run homer to left to push the lead to 11-0.
Meanwhile, Viking starter
Alec Michaelson (Willowbrook HS, Lombard, Ill.) cruised through four scoreless innings before exiting in favor of
Jacob Irwin (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.). Irwin set the Bluejays down in order in the fifth, but they got to him for three runs in the sixth and added an unearned run off
Jacob Reusch (Mercer County HS, Aledo, Ill.). Jonathan Mays' two-run single was the big hit.
Simon and Trey Romay traded sacrifice flies in the seventh to make it 12-5.
Reusch finished off a four-inning relief stint to close things out. He gave up four hits and two runs, neither of which was earned. Michaelson (8-0) allowed just two hits and one walk in four scoreless frames and was credited with the win by prearrangement. Miller went three innings and took the loss, falling to 4-4.
Plenty of Vikings had big games at the plate. Owens went 2-for-5 with four RBI. Gattuso was 3-for-5 with two knocked in, Benedetti 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI and
Matt Ozanic (East Leyden HS, Franklin Park, Ill.) 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Simon went 1-for-2 with three walks and scored twice and
Griffen Pschigoda (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) reached three times (a walk and two hit-by-pitch) and scored two runs.
AUGUSTANA 7, ELMHURST 3
Starters
Harrison Boushele (Grandview HS, Aurora, Colo.) and Joseph Kalish put up goose eggs through two innings in the nightcap, but Augustana got to Kalish for a pair of runs in the third. Simon singled to center with one out and Owens followed with his third homer of the day and fifth of the season.
Gattuso drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and scored on Owens' RBI single to make it 3-0.
Boushele shut Elmhurst out on one hit through six innings, but the hosts got to him for a run in the seventh. Romay doubled to left center leading off and eventually scored on a Troy Taller groundout.
Benedetti had an RBI double and
Alec McGinnis (Normal West HS, Normal, Ill.) a two-run single in a three-run Viking eighth and Gattuso's solo homer—his fourth of the season—in the top of the ninth made it 7-1.
Josh Chamberlain (Legacy HS, Thornton, Colo.) relieved Boushele and threw a scoreless eighth before the Bluejays touched
Addison Southwick (Arvada West HS, Arvada, Colo.) for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final.
Boushele (4-3) allowed just two hits and one run in seven innings. He walked one and equaled a season high with 11 strikeouts. Kalish (4-4) went 4 1/3 and suffered the loss.
Owens went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Simon was 3-for-4, Benedetti 2-for-2 and McGinnis 2-for-4 with two driven in.
