MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Augustana Vikings baseball team will begin their 2023 season at the Rhodes Classic on Friday, February 17 as they get set to face a trio of non-conference opponents. 

Augie will first face the Wabash Little Giants before matching up against the Rhodes Lynx as the away team on Saturday, February 18. Augustana then wraps their southern road trip with a contest against the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds on Sunday, February 19. 

The Vikings are coming off an impressive 2022 season, which saw them win the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament championship and secure a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Augie produced an impressive overall record of 34-12, including head coach Greg Wallace's 700th career win in the regular season finale at Wheaton. The Vikings had numerous selections to the all-conference and all-region teams. The Augustana pitching staff shined, earning first-team all-region honors for Harrison Boushele, second-team all-region honors for Bryce Luckey, first-team all-district honors for Josh Wintroub, and third-team all-region and second-team all-conference honors for Addison Southwick. Infielder Matt Ozanic also received a second-team all-conference nod.

Wabash opens their season on Friday against Augustana. The Little Giants will look to improve upon their 20-19 record last season, which began hot, but fizzled down the stretch as Wabash endured a seven-game losing streak to close the year. Friday will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

On Saturday, the Vikings will face Rhodes, who enters the weekend with a strong 3-1 record so far. The Lynx opened their season with three straight victories before falling by a 7-5 score to the Christian Brothers Buccaneers in their second home game on February 15. In the all-time series the Vikings and Lynx have met four times, splitting their matchups 2-2. 

The Vikings conclude their season-opening road trip with a contest against UW-Eau Claire. The Blugolds will see their first action this weekend and are coming off a 14-26 record from a year ago, completing their second season after renewing the program in 2021. Augustana has won both of their all-time meetings against Eau Claire, sweeping a double header at home last season.

Augie will face Wabash to kick off the weekend Friday at 10:30 a.m. The stream link for each game can be found here.