AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Augustana baseball defeated the Union Dutchmen 11-3 on Friday to begin a five-game trip in Florida, earning their 12th straight victory.

Josh Wintroub took the mound and struck out two batters in the first inning, but the Dutchmen scored midway through the frame on an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. On offense, the Vikings faced right-hander Harry Azadian and found early success as Dymitri Kanellakis blasted a two-run single to center field to go out in front. Augie went ahead 5-1 in the bottom of the second inning thanks to an Alex Simon two-run double and a Kyle Campbell RBI single.

Following scoreless third and fourth innings from both sides, Union inched closer with a run in the fifth before Augustana responded with three more of their own in the bottom half. Kanellakis drove in the opening run with a solo blast over the fence, followed by a pair of RBI from Michael Aragon and Brett Benedetti. Neither team scored in the sixth before Augie's final three runs came in the bottom of the seventh inning, beginning with Michael Gattuso scoring on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Cole Green. Benedetti scored two at-bats later on a wild pitch, with Green securing the team's final run on a sac fly from Campbell. The Dutchmen added one more score in the ninth to bring the game to its 11-3 final.

Wintroub earned his third win of the season after striking out 14 batters, which is tied for a career best. As a team, Augie had 14 hits for the second contest in a row, matching a season best. Simon and Benedetti each led the way with three-hit efforts, while Kanellakis earned a game-high three runs batted in.

Augustana improves to 13-2 with the win and will continue their stay in Auburndale with a bout against Colby at 11:00 a.m. CDT on Saturday.