TOPEKA, Kan. – Augustana baseball will remain away from home for a trio of neutral-site games against the Cornell Rams, Luther Norse, and UW-Platteville Pioneers from March 3-5.
Augie possesses a 3-2 record and is currently on a two-game winning streak, defeating the Blackburn Beavers and Simpson Storm last weekend in central Illinois. Their most recent triumph was a 7-3 win over the Storm, which featured Josh Wintroub on the mound, who struck out 12 batters and threw strikes on nearly 70 percent of his tosses. Bryce Luckey came in for relief, earning the win after tossing two scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. The Vikings' offense only had three hits, but moved efficiently around the bases, with seven players scoring runs. Dymitri Kanellakis' three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning helped Augie pull away from the Storm late.
The Vikings begin their weekend slate on Friday against Cornell, who opens their 2023 season in Kansas. Last season, the Rams went 17-23 overall and were 9-17 away from home. Cornell hired new head coach Robbie Dombrowski this offseason to help succeed the program's all-time winningest coach, Seth Wing. The Rams return 11 players who pitched at least 10 innings a year ago and helped contribute to the team's single-season strikeout record of 300. Augustana has dominated the all-time series against Cornell, possessing a 19-2 record, with their most recent meeting resulting in a 10-0 victory on April 10, 2022. Wintroub threw a no-hitter in the victory last season, striking out 14 of his 26 batters faced.
Luther enters Saturday's contest against Augie with a 2-1 record after opening their season with a three-game series against Saint John's (Minn.). The Norse lost the opening game in extra innings by a 10-9 score but rebounded with back-to-back wins over the Johnnies. Luther has registered at least six hits across each of their three contests, with Cullen Stamp leading the team with a .538 average and three runs batted in. Augustana holds a 5-2 advantage against Luther in the all-time series, with the most recent matchup between the two programs resulting in an 8-2 neutral site victory for the Vikings on March 7, 2015.
Augie's final contest of the road trip will come against UW-Platteville on Sunday. The Pioneers have yet to play a game so far in 2023 after their scheduled four-game trip to Tennessee was canceled. Platteville finished the 2022 season with a 13-22 overall record and was 6-17 in neutral or away contests. The Vikings are 20-6 all-time versus the Pioneers, with their most recent meeting resulting in a 7-5 win for Augustana in March 2016 in Fort Myers, Fla.
Augie opens their weekend on Friday against Cornell at 11:00 a.m. from Bettis Sports Complex.
