MOLINE, Ill. – The Augustana baseball team completed a doubleheader against Carthage on Friday, claiming game one in eight innings by a 10-0 score before holding the Firebirds scoreless again in game two, winning 12-0 in eight.

Game One

Harrison Boushele started on the mound, striking out the first three batters he faced to bring on the Augustana offense. The Vikings nabbed their first two scores of the game in the bottom of the inning, with Kyle Campbell hitting a single to drive in a run and Dymitri Kanellakis following with an RBI triple to score Campbell. Boushele tossed another three-up, three-down inning in the second, giving way to another two-run inning from the Vikings' offense. A wild pitch accounted for the frame's first run, followed by an RBI hit from Alex Simon to make it 4-0 after two innings of play. 

The two sides played scoreless third and fourth innings before the Vikings added three runs in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and nobody on, the Vikings swiftly loaded the bases with a single and three consecutive hit batters to score Aragon and go up by five. The Firebirds issued back-to-back walks with the bases loaded to make it a seven-run game.

Augie extended their lead with two more runs in the seventh inning, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a Matt Ozanic single. Simon plated a run after a Carthage pitch hit Michael Gattuso, followed by Ozanic scoring on a wild pitch the ensuing at-bat. The Vikings clinched game one by run rule with a walk-off Simon RBI double to left field to put the game at its 10-0 final. 

Boushele earned his sixth victory of the season after pitching a complete game, striking out 11 Firebirds and allowing just three hits. Augustana tallied 10 hits, with Green and Simon each collecting two, while six other Vikings added one. Simon led the way with a game-high three runs batted in. 

Game Two

After a scoreless first inning, Augustana quickly grabbed the lead with a three-spot in the top of the second inning. Down two outs early, Augie notched back-to-back doubles from Alec McGinnis and Aragon for the team's first score. The Vikings kept their momentum going with Cole Green batting in a run before Brett Benedetti took home on a double steal to go ahead by three. Neither team plated a run in a swift third inning, but Augustana resumed scoring with two runs in the fourth. The Vikings nabbed a pair of singles leading up to a two-RBI triple off the bat of Simon to cushion their lead to five runs.

A walk with the bases loaded made it 6-0 after six complete, followed up with two additional runs in the seventh to add on to Augustana's advantage. Brett Benedetti accounted for the first run batted in with a double, later scoring on a passed ball to extend the margin to 8-0. 

The Vikings tacked on four runs in the eighth inning, beginning with McGinnis' two-RBI blast to center for his third hit of the game. Following a Benedetti RBI single to left that put the Vikings up by 11, Simon earned a bases-loaded walk to plate the game's final run. Jacob Reusch came in late in the eighth inning to send the Firebirds home by run rule at the 12-0 final score.

Starter Josh Wintroub improved to four wins on the season, tossing 7.1 innings and striking out 12 Firebirds. The Vikings belted 15 hits as a team, paced by McGinnis and Benedetti with three apiece. Simon batted in three runs to lead the team for a second straight game. 

Augustana will travel to Kenosha, Wis. on Saturday to wrap up their regular-season series against Carthage. Start time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from Augie Schmidt Field.