INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Augustana baseball (33-10) learned their assignment in the 2022 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament this morning. The Vikings earned a berth to the Whitewater Regional with games starting this Friday, May 20.
 
Augie will be the three seed at their respective regional. The hosts from UW-Whitewater are the top seeded team followed by NACC at-large qualifier Aurora in the two spot and NACC Tournament champion MSOE as the four seed.
 
The Vikings will open play on Friday, May 20 against the Spartans of Aurora University. Despite not winning their league tournament championship, the Spartans won the NACC regular season crown and ended the year ranked 16^th in the national rankings.
 
Aurora (33-9) ended the regular season on a 13-game winning streak including a 5-2 victory over fellow CCIW foe North Central. At the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament, the Spartans dropped their first game to St. Norbert. In the consolation bracket, Aurora defeated Benedictine before losing to Edgewood to end their run for a tournament crown.
 
Aurora boasts a potent offense with seven batters hitting over the .300-mark. Corey Vondra and Justin Sartori lead the Spartans with batting averages of .377 and .373, respectively. Vondra also leads Aurora with 69 hits while Sartori paces the Spartans with a .704 slugging percentage, 55 runs scored, 68 RBI, 16 doubles, 12 home runs, and 119 total bases. Jack Fisher and Nick Malmberg lead the Spartan pitching staff with over 67 innings and seven wins each. Fisher is one of three Aurora hurlers with a sub-three earned run average and also leads the club with 60 strikeouts.
 
Augustana and Aurora have faced off on 17 previous occasions dating to the 1989 season. Aurora leads the all-time series by a 12-5 margin and have won the last four contests over the Vikings. Augie's last win over Aurora came in 2009 when the Vikings capped a three-game winning streak over the Spartans.
 
The region's highest seed and host is UW-Whitewater (33-8). The Warhawks enter the national tournament after stumbling at the WIAC Tournament where they lost their first two contests of the event. Prior to the conference tournament, UWW finished the regular season on a red hot 18-game winning streak, all of which coming in league play.
 
The Warhawks also have a high-powered offense with the ability to produce runs via contact and power. UWW has four batters with averages over .350 including team-leader Sam Vomhof at .377.  Nick Paget has the second-best batting average at .368 and also leads the squad with a .566 slugging percentage, a .462 OBP, four triples, and 86 total bases. Elsewhere, Matt Scolan has scored a team-high 44 runs while Jacob DeMeyer has driven in a team-high 45 RBI. Kade Lancour and All-American Westin Muir lead the Warhawk pitching staff with 71 innings apiece. Both pitchers own earned run averages under three. Muir leads the team with nine wins and 84 strikeouts while Lancour is close behind with eight victories and 81 K's.
 
Augustana has played UW-Whitewater three times. The Vikings lead the all-time series 2-1 with a pair of wins in 1973. The Warhawks' lone win over Augie came in the most recent matchup during the 2016 season.
 
The final team in the Whitewater Regional is NACC Tournament champion MSOE. The Milwaukee School of Engineering (27-16) overcame a difficult mid-season stretch to run the table at the NACC Tournament and qualify for nationals.
 
Six Raiders are currently batting over .300 with Micah Overley leading the way at .393. Overley also laeds MSOE with 50 runs scored and 66 hits. Other key offensive contributors include Blake Hall with a .389 average and 63 hits, Brandon Beauchamp with a .373 average and 24 extra base hits, and Collin Truitt with a team-high 44 runs batted in. Tyler Gronert and Nolan Vincent have been the horses on the mound for MSOE with 82.2 and 76.1 innings pitched, respectively. Gronert boasts an 11-2 record with seven complete games, 87 strikeouts, and a 1.96 earned run average. Vincent has also posted six wins with 58 K's and a 1.77 ERA.
 
Augustana and MSOE have never met.
 
All games this weekend will be played at Prucha Field in Whitewater, Wis. The tournament format starts with a four-team double-elimination bracket in the regional round followed by a best-of-three series in the super regional round. The eight super regional champions will advance to the 2022 NCAA Division III Baseball Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. More tournament information and a full bracket can be found here.