ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana baseball welcomes two non-conference opponents to the Quad Cities this week for their final homestand of the 2022 season. The Vikings will host Knox College on Tuesday, May 3 and Simpson College on Wednesday, May 4.
Tuesday's opponent, Knox, enters the week with a 6-25 overall record and a 4-16 mark in Midwest Conference play. The Prairie Fire have lost 13 of their last 14 games including a three-game sweep at Lawrence University. Knox's last victory came on Apr. 28 in a 5-4 victory at Monmouth College.
The Knox offense is led by Benjamin Bucher and Evan Laws, both with batting averages over the .270 mark. Bucher a leads the team with 19 runs scored while laws is tops on the roster with 28 hits, 12 doubles, and one triple. Jason Clark has the team's best slugging percentage at .475 and four home runs.
Matthew Shover has been the ace on staff for the Prairie Fire with 56 innings on mound and a team-high two wins. Shover has struck out 50 opposing hitters in nine starts.
Augustana and Knox share a rich competitive history dating back to the 1925 season. The Vikings leads the all-time series 44-29-1 and have won the last 14 contests.
Simpson will bring records of 18-17 overall and 9-12 in American Rivers Conference play to Moline. The Storm lost their most recent contest, a 2-1 defeat to Luther College, but took the series with a pair of wins on Saturday, Apr. 30.
Brady Held's .398 batting average is the best on the Storm's roster, followed by Kaleb Bauer at .330, Luke Willis at .317, and Kolton Arnold and .304. Willis has recorded the most hits on the club with 44 and has also driven in a team-high 26 RBI. Held has also scored 35 runs to lead Simpson in that category.
A quartet of Storm pitchers have pitched over 43 innings this season. Brett Kauzlarich leads the team with 48.2 innings pitched. Brady Held also leads the Simpson pitching staff with 83 strikeouts while Zach Hollingsworth boasts a 2.20 earned run average.
Augustana and Simpson have faced off once before. The Vikings won a competitive 1-0 ballgame in 1999. Wednesday's game with Simpson will be the final home contest of the season for the Vikings.
Game Coverage vs. Knox (time listed in CST)
Game Coverage vs. Simpson (time listed in CST)
