FORT MYERS, Fla. – Augustana baseball defeated the Rockford Regents 13-5 on Friday, continuing their run at the Gene Cusic Classic.
Josh Wintroub got the nod for Augie, striking out two batters on his way to a three-up and three-down first inning. The Vikings faced left-hander Jared Herzog on the mound and battled through a scoreless first inning before finding success in the bottom of the second, beginning with a Matt Ozanic sacrifice fly to bring in the first run. Later in the inning, Dymitri Kanellakis hit his second triple of the season before scoring on a wild pitch to put the Vikings up 2-0.
The Regents jumped ahead in the top of the third inning with three runs, but Augie quickly responded with three scores of their own. After reaching base on a Regents error, Brett Benedetti crossed home with an Alec McGinnis RBI double. McGinnis scored two Augie at-bats later behind a Kyle Campbell RBI single. Following a steal to enter scoring position, Campbell tallied his second run after Ozanic brought him home with a base hit, moving the score to 5-3 in favor of the Vikings.
The two teams battled through a scoreless fourth inning before Augustana's offense added four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Campbell scored for a third time on a Kanellakis RBI double before the Vikings benefited from multiple walks and an error to add on three more in the frame. The Vikings tacked on two more scores in the bottom of the sixth inning with Sosnowki hitting an RBI single to bring in Ozanic before scoring himself on another error by the Regents.
Rockford added two runs in the top of the eighth inning, immediately neutralized by the Vikings as they responded with two of their own. Kanellakis reached first safely on a bunt, and advanced home for his third score of the game after a hit batter moved the Augustana runners around the bases. The Vikings built a plus-eight advantage, nabbing their final run of the game after a McGinnis sacrifice fly. Addison Southwick closed the game for Augie, facing five batters and striking out one.
Wintroub earned his third win of the season for Augustana after tossing five innings and striking out six batters. The Vikings had 13 hits, with Kallelakis pacing the team with a 5-5 effort. Augie had 11 RBI as a team, with McGinnis leading the charge with three, while Ozanic and Benedetti had two each.
The Vikings improve to 8-2 following their seventh straight win and will play the Saint John's Johnnies on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. for the third game of their Florida slate.
