CAROL STREAM, Ill. – The No. 20-ranked Augustana baseball team will wrap up their regular season with a three-game road trip from May 5-6. The Vikings will play the Wheaton Thunder at Lee Pfund Stadium on Friday before traveling to Waukesha, Wis., for a doubleheader against the Carroll Pioneers on Saturday. Augustana needs just one win or North Central loss to clinch the CCIW regular season title outright and No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

 

The Vikings hold a 31-6 record, 13-2 in the CCIW, and are currently on a 13-game winning streak. The club is coming off an 8-7 non-conference victory over the Monmouth Fighting Scots on Tuesday, May 2. Augie jumped out to a 4-0 lead through two frames, but the Fighting Scots responded with five runs in the top of the third to grab the edge. Dymitri Kanellakis mashed a single in the fourth to level the game at 5-5, though Monmouth responded with their final two runs in the sixth to retake a two-run lead. The Vikings rallied behind a pair of RBI singles from Chase Maifield and Alec McGinnis to tie the game at seven-all before Michael Aragon batted in the go-ahead run shortly after, putting the game at its eventual 8-7. Anthony Sus claimed his third win of the season, tossing 3.2 innings and allowing just two hits in relief. McGinnis batted in a team-high three runs to lead the 10-hit effort from Augie. 

 

Wheaton possesses a 15-20 record, 6-9 in conference, and is coming off a non-conference doubleheader split with Chicago on Saturday, April 29. The Thunder fell in game one 7-6 but claimed a 10-3 victory in game two behind a 16-hit performance. The Thunder jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first two innings but surrendered three runs in the fourth to cut that margin in half. After two scoreless frames, the Thunder increased their lead to seven, adding one score in the seventh and three more in the eighth to put the game at its 10-3 final. Ben Weaver led the Wheaton bats, going 4-for-5 from the plate with a home run and two RBI. 

 

In the all-time series, Augustana holds a 93-51 advantage over Wheaton, claiming the most recent meeting between the two programs 11-1 by run rule on April 12. The Thunder secured an early 1-0 lead but would not see a score for the remainder of the contest. With three runs in the bottom of the first and one in the bottom of the second, Augie answered and seized a 4-1 lead. The Vikings added three more in the fifth inning before scoring the game's final four runs in the sixth to take a 10-run advantage and end the contest in seven innings. Brian Fischer earned his first win of the season after tossing five innings and striking out three. Augie totaled seven hits from five different players, paced by two apiece from Kanellakis and Matt Ozanic. 

 

Carroll sports a 16-19 record, 8-8 in conference, with their most recent action resulting in a 14-2 defeat to UW-Whitewater on Wednesday, May 3. The Warhawks leaped to a 9-0 advantage through two innings before seeing a lone score in the third from the Pioneers. Whitewater continued to pour it on, plating four more runs in the fourth to go ahead 13-1, with Carroll managing just one run the rest of the way. Joey Rivera led the Pioneers' offense with his 4-for-5 effort and two runs batted in. 

 

The conference foes have met more than 70 times, with Augie leading the all-time series 48-23. The Vikings and Pioneers split their most recent battle in Waukesha, Wis. on April 3, 2022, with Augie taking game one 6-2 while Carroll claimed game two 7-3. In the win, Augustana surged back from an early two-run deficit, nabbing a trio of runs in the third and adding three more by the sixth frame to put the game at its ultimate 6-2 final. The momentum from the opening contest did not translate to game two as Carroll outhit the Vikings 11-5 to clinch the regular-season series. 

The weekend begins in Carol Stream on Friday, with the battle against Wheaton starting at 3:00 p.m. from Lee Pfund Stadium. Saturday's doubleheader against Carroll begins at 1:00 p.m. from Frame Park. Stream links for the conference matchups can be found here for the Thunder and here for the Pioneers.