Vikings go 35-9; equal second-most wins in program history; finish 25-7 and second in the CCIW; Mitchell Owens, Alec Michaelson and Matt Ozanic named first team All-CCIW; Michaelson, Ozanic and John Hayes collect All-Region honors
 
During a chaotic year of uncertainty, Coach Greg Wallace's Augustana baseball team enjoyed a banner season in 2021. The Vikings finished 35-9, equaling the second-highest win total in program history and posting its best record since 2000. COVID restrictions limited travel, resulting in a 32-game CCIW schedule. Augustana's 25-7 league mark was good for second place and represented eight more conference victories than it had ever posted in a season previously.
 
Several Vikings earned individual accolades. Seniors Alec Michaelson (Willowbrook HS, Lombard, Ill.) and Mitchell Owens (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) and junior Matt Ozanic (East Leyden HS, Franklin Park, Ill.) were named to the All-CCIW first team. Ozanic earned second team All-Region honors from D3baseball.com, while Michaelson and senior John Hayes (Cherry Creek HS, Greenwood Village, Colo.) were third team All-Region selections by ABCA/Rawlings.
 
Wallace's club ran the table in in its abbreviated eight-game non-conference schedule, getting wins over Fontbonne and Nebraska Wesleyan in St. Louis, Missouri before downing Loras and Illinois College twice in Jacksonville, Illinois. Three straight home victories over Cornell gave Augustana an 8-0 record heading into CCIW action.
 
The Vikings opened league play on March 20 with a home doubleheader versus sixth-ranked North Central, dropping both games. It was a minor stumble however, as they downed the Cardinals 3-2 in 10 innings the next day to spark a six-game winning streak. It included a dramatic 5-2, 10-inning home victory over Elmhurst that ended on Ozanic's three-run walk-off homer and a three-game series sweep of North Park.
 
The streak was snapped with a loss at Carthage, but Augustana ran off another four wins in a row to move to 18-3 overall and 10-3 in the conference. In a three-game sweep of Wheaton, the Vikings outscored the Thunder 44-10 and in game one of the set, Augustana tallied 14 runs in the second inning—all with two out.
 
Illinois Wesleyan swept a twin bill from the Vikings in Bloomington, Illinois on April 17, but again Wallace's bunch bounced back. Augustana downed the Titans at home the next day to kick off a seven-game winning streak. Included were two wins over the team's closest pursuer, Millikin, a three-game sweep of Carthage and a win over league-leading and ninth-ranked North Central.
 
The Vikings took two of three from Millikin before one of their most memorable victories of the season. Trailing Illinois Wesleyan 8-5 with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the ninth, Augustana rallied for four runs to pull out a 9-8 win at Swanson Stadium/Brunner Field. Wallace's bunch took two out of three from Carroll and closed the regular season with five consecutive wins.
 
At 33-7 overall and 25-7 in the CCIW, the Vikings were the second seed at the CCIW Tournament. They faced Elmhurst for the fourth consecutive game in their opener and rode an eight-run fifth inning to a 12-9 win. A 5-3 setback to eventual champion Millikin sent the team to loser's bracket, where they eliminated North Park 2-1 on Zachary Vrbancic's (Stagg HS, Palos Hills, Ill.) two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Later in the day, a ninth-inning rally against North Central came up a run short as the Cardinals ended Augustana's season with a 5-4 defeat.
 
With the NCAA Tournament field trimmed to 48 teams this year and only six at-large bids available, Millikin was the only representative from the CCIW. The Vikings finished the year with a record of 35-9, equaling the second-most wins in program history and posting the best record since Wallace's 2000 squad finished 38-8.
 
Owens (.343-5-38) and Ozanic (.326-4-46) paced the Viking offense. Owens started all 44 games and led Augustana in batting average, hits (58), total bases (87), hit-by-pitch (a school-record 18) and on-base percentage (.467). He shared the lead in runs (47), doubles (14) and home runs. Ozanic led in RBI and slugging (.543) and shared the lead in doubles and triples (two).
 
Alex Simon (Hinsdale Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) (.299-1-28) shared the lead in runs scored and had team bests of 33 walks (third-most in program history) and 10 stolen bases in as many attempts. The freshman third baseman was named National Rookie of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America for the period of May 10-16. Senior catcher Griffen Pschigoda (Wheaton-Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) (.288-5-32) shared the home run lead with Owens and freshman second baseman Alec McGinnis' (Normal West HS, Normal, Ill.) (.290-0-12) 10 sacrifice bunts led the team and ranked fourth in the nation.
 
Despite having never earned a decision entering his senior season, Michaelson keyed Wallace's starting rotation this year, going 8-0 with a 2.93 ERA. The right-hander led Viking hurlers in wins and innings pitched (70 2/3). He walked just eight batters and his average of 1.02 per nine innings is third-lowest in school history. Senior right-hander Matt Hoban (Monarch HS, Westminster, Colo.) (4-2, 2.75) led the staff in ERA and freshman right-hander Harrison Boushele (Grandview HS, Aurora, Colo.) (4-3, 4.53) had staff bests of 11 starts and 76 strikeouts. In his last five starts, Boushele posted a 1.13 ERA over 32 innings and allowed just 16 hits while fanning 40.
 
Hayes (5-1, 2.90) made a school-record 25 appearances (second in the nation) this year. His eight saves ranked ninth nationally and equaled his 2019 total as fourth-best in school history. The right-hander also set Augustana career records for appearances (69) and saves (17).
 
Sophomore lefty Jacob Reusch (Mercer County HS, Aledo, Ill.) (1-1, 3.45, 1 Sv) and senior right-hander Josh Chamberlain (Legacy HS, Thornton, Colo.) (2-0, 5.06, 1 Sv) each made 20 appearances this year, tied for 11th most in the nation.
 
2021 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN STANDINGS

School	Conf	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
North Central	27-5	.844	38-9	.809
AUGUSTANA	25-7	.781	35-9	.795
Millikin	20-12	.625	31-16	.660
Carroll	14-18	.438	22-22	.500
North Park	12-20	.375	18-23	.439
Illinois Wesleyan	12-20	.375	17-25	.405
Elmhurst	12-20	.375	18-25	.419
Wheaton	11-21	.344	16-27	.372
Carthage	11-21	.344	16-25	.390

 
2021 CCIW BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
(Hosted by Wheaton – Naperville, Ill./Carol Stream, Ill.)
Monday, May 17
#8 Wheaton 12, #9 Carthage 4
Wednesday, May 19
Game 1:  #1 North Central 8, #8 Wheaton 7
Game 2: #4 Carroll 6, #5 North Park 2
Game 3: #2 Augustana 12, #7 Elmhurst 9
Game 4: #3 Millikin 6, #6 Illinois Wesleyan 3
Thursday, May 20
Game 5: #5 North Park 6, #8 Wheaton 5
Game 6: #7 Elmhurst 15, #6 Illinois Wesleyan 3
Game 7: #4 Carroll 11, #1 North Central 6 (10 innings)
Game 8: #3 Millikin 5, #2 Augustana 3
Friday, May 21
Game 9: #1 North Central 9, #7 Elmhurst 2
Game 10:  #2 Augustana 2, #5 North Park 1
Game 11: #3 Millikin 4, #4 Carroll 0
Game 12: #1 North Central 5, #2 Augustana 4
Saturday, May 22
Game 13: #1 North Central 13, #4 Carroll 3
Game 14: #1 North Central 6, #3 Millikin 5
Game 15: #3 Millikin 4, #1 North Central 3
 
2021 AUGUSTANA BASEBALL SUPERLATIVES
D3BASEBALL.COM ALL-CENTRAL REGION: Matt Ozanic
AMERICAN BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION/RAWLINGS ALL-CENTRAL REGION: 3rd team—Alec Michaelson, P; John Hayes, P
ALL-CCIW: First team—Mitchell Owens, INF, Alec Michaelson, P; Matt Ozanic, DH
ACADEMIC ALL-CCIW: Jacob Barker, Josh Chamberlain, Sam Cregan, Michael Gattuso, Zachary Gooding, John Hayes, Matt Hoban, Jacob Irwin, Caleb Izenbart, Joe Marcucci, Max Mead, Alec Michaelson, Matt Mosele, Mitchell Owens, Matt Ozanic, Jacob Reusch, John Stoltz, John Votaw, Josh Wintroub, Kyle Wise
CCIW PLAYER OF THE WEEK: John Hayes (Pitcher) 03/30/21; Alec Michaelson (Pitcher) 05/04/21; Alex Simon (Hitter) 05/18/21
CCIW INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS: Sacrifice bunts—8, Alec McGinnis
CCIW TEAM STATISTICAL LEADERS: Base-on-balls—176; Hit-by-pitch—68; Fewest GDP—9; Sacrifice bunts—33; Double plays—24
INDIVIDUAL TOP 25 NATIONAL RANKINGS: Appearances—25, John Hayes, 2nd; 20, Josh Chamberlain & Jacob Reusch, 11th... Sacrifice bunts—10, Alec McGinnis, 4th; 8, Alex Simon, 20th... Saves—8, John Hayes, 9th... Hit-by-pitch—18, Mitchell Owens, 9th... Base-on-balls—33, Alex Simon, 22nd... Wins—8, Alec Michaelson, 25th
TEAM TOP 25 NATIONAL RANKINGS: Hit-by-pitch—94, 4th... Base-on-balls—237, 5th... Sacrifice bunts—39, 5th... Double plays—33, 17th
 
ADDITIONS TO TOP TEN LISTS
Single Season
Appearances: 25, John Hayes, 1st; 20, Josh Chamberlain & Jacob Reusch, T-7th
Hit-by-pitch: 18, Mitchell Owens, 1st; 13, Matt Ozanic & Alex Simon, T-6th
Sacrifice bunts: 10, Alec McGinnis T-2nd; 8, Alex Simon, T-8th
Base-on-balls: 33, Alex Simon, 3rd
Fewest walks/nine innings: 1.02, Alec Michaelson, 3rd
Strikeouts/nine innings: 11.46, Harrison Boushele, 4th
Saves: 8, John Hayes, T-4th
Wins: 8, Alec Michaelson, T-5th
RBI: 46, Matt Ozanic, 9th
Strikeouts: 76, Harrison Boushele, 10th
 
Career
Saves: 17, John Hayes, 1st
Appearances: 69, John Hayes, 1st; 56, Josh Chamberlain, 4th
Hit-by-pitch: 28, Mitchell Owens, T-7th