MOLINE, Ill. – The No. 25 ranked Augustana baseball team battled No. 23 ranked North Central in their first conference home game on Wednesday, falling 14-8 to the Cardinals. The contest marked the first time since 2017 that two ranked CCIW foes squared off head-to-head.

After a pair of two-run innings from the Cardinals in the first and third, Augie found themselves in an early 4-0 hole. The Vikings' offense came alive in the bottom of the third, loading the bases with a single, walk, and hit by pitch. The scoring kicked off with Alec McGinnis crossing home on a fielder's choice from Cole Green before another hit by pitch scored Michael Aragon from third. Brett Benedetti tallied the final run of the frame on a fielder's choice from Matt Ozanic to cut the lead to one. North Central erupted for nine scores in the top of the fourth to seize a 10-run advantage. 

Augie replied in the bottom of the fourth inning with two scores after facing their largest deficit of the season. McGinnis and Benedetti walked and singled, before Green delivered a two-out, two-RBI single to right field to bring the score to 13-5. 

Following a scoreless fifth inning from both clubs, the Vikings added a lone run in the bottom of the sixth on an Aragon RBI single to cut the lead to seven. In the seventh frame, Dymitri Kanellakis inched the Vikings closer with a sacrifice fly to score Campbell prior to Chase Maifield ripping an RBI double off the wall to give Augie their final two runs. North Central tacked on a score in the top of the ninth to put the game at its 14-8 final.

The Vikings secured nine hits, paced by McGinnis and Benedetti with two apiece. Green secured three runs batted in to lead the team. 

With the loss, the Vikings move to 16-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference. On Friday, the club will travel to Chicago for a doubleheader versus North Park before heading to Naperville for a rematch with the Cardinals on Saturday. Game one against the Vikings begins at 1:00 p.m.