MOLINE, Ill. – The Augustana Vikings baseball team will continue their home stand April 22-23 when they welcome in second-place Millikin for a key conference series. The final game against the Big Blue on Sunday will serve as Senior Day. 

The Vikings hold a 23-6 record, 8-2 in conference, and are coming off a victory over Elmhurst on Tuesday by a 7-6 final. Elmhurst plated a run in the top of the first before Augie responded with a run in the second and three in the third to go ahead 4-1. Neither team scored across the following two innings before Elmhurst surged for three runs in the sixth to knot the game at four all. Augie broke the deadlock with two scores in the bottom of the sixth but met an immediate response from the Bluejays in the seventh to tie the game for a third time at 6-6. Augie loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but left all three runners on base as the game remained even entering the eighth inning. Addison Southwick faced just three batters in the top of the frame, prompting the Augie offense to score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the inning with an error off the bat of Kyle Campbell that brought in Cole Green. Southwick earned the win after tossing just three pitches in the top of the ninth to secure the team the regular-season sweep of Elmhurst. 

Millikin possesses a 21-10 record and sits one game behind Augustana for first place with a 7-3 conference mark. The team is currently on a two-game skid, splitting their April 15 series against Wheaton before falling in their most recent contest to Webster by a 7-6 score in the 10th inning on Tuesday. Webster plated three runs in the top of the second inning before seeing a four-run response from the Big Blue in the bottom side of the frame. Following both sides' scoreless third and fourth innings, the Gorloks tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI infield single. Millikin broke the draw in the seventh with a score before Webster scored the equalizer in the top of the eighth. In the ninth inning, neither team scored, requiring extra innings, in which Webster scored twice and Millikin scored just once to seal the Gorlocks' victory. Ryan Janssen batted in two runs to lead the team. 

Augustana leads Millikin in the all-time series 120-67, winning their most recent meeting 7-4 in 11 innings on May 12, 2022 to advance in last season's CCIW tournament. Three runs from the Big Blue started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning before Augie quickly answered in the top of the third to cut the margin to 3-2. The Vikings added one score in both the fourth and fifth inning to go ahead by one. Millikin leveled the game at 4-4 with a run in the eighth inning, requiring two extra innings as neither team scored in innings nine and 10. Augie sealed the win with a three-run eruption in the 11th inning to move on in the conference tournament. Zachary Vrbancic led the Augustana offense going 3-for-5, plating a run, and driving another in. Jacob Reusch earned the win after pitching 1.2 innings in relief and striking out two.

The three-game home series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12:00 p.m., followed by a Senior Day clash on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Stream link can be found here.