WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Augustana baseball team secured their regular-season series against the Carroll Pioneers on Saturday, winning game one of the doubleheader by a 20-1 score before taking the finale 9-6.
Game One
The Vikings established a six-run lead early in the conference battle, beginning with a trio of RBI singles from Dymitri Kanellakis, Chase Maifield, and Alec McGinnis in the opening inning. Michael Aragon supplied the remainder of the Vikings' first-inning scores with a three-run home run to cap off the early scoring outburst. A solo home run in the Pioneers' first at-bat brought the score to 6-1, but Augustana's offense erupted for eight runs in the second to quickly move the margin to double digits. The onslaught began with a two-run double from Matt Ozanic before Maifield mashed a run-scoring double three at-bats later to make it 9-1. Maifield's RBI was the first of six runs batted in with two outs in the inning, followed up by a two-run home run from McGinnis. Cole Green and Alex Simon each notched run-producing hits to wrap up the eight-run frame.
McGinnis' RBI single in the third brought in run number 15 for the Vikings before the team put the game further out of reach with two scores apiece in the fifth and sixth innings. Kanellakis launched a triple in the fifth to bring in Ozanic, while McGinnis added to his RBI total later in the frame with a sacrifice fly. One inning later, Kanellakis singled to notch his third RBI of the game prior to McGinnis batting in Ozanic to move the Vikings ahead 19-1 through six. Austin Ford cemented the game's 20-1 final with a run-scoring double in the seventh inning as the Vikings claimed the opening contest by run rule.
Josh Wintroub earned the win after pitching five innings while giving up just one run on one hit and recording nine strikeouts. Augie outhit the Pioneers 22-2, led by four apiece from Green, Kanellakis, and McGinnis, while six other players recorded at least one. McGinnis also posted a game-high six runs batted in to go with his 4-4 effort from the plate.
Game Two
Augie found themselves on the back foot early in the series' second contest as Carroll jumped to a 4-0 lead after one. Three scoreless innings from both teams followed, but the Vikings broke the scoring drought in the fifth with a trio of runs. Ozanic began the surge with an RBI single before an RBI groundout from Kyle Campbell brought in the team's next run. In the ensuing at-bat, Kanellakis hit a first-pitch run-producing single to trim the deficit to one. The Pioneers answered with a two-run home run in the bottom of the frame to build back a three-run cushion at 6-3 after five innings of action.
The Vikings rallied in the sixth inning, scoring the game's final six runs to seize a 9-6 lead. Aragon reached home on a Pioneers' throwing error prior to Simon mashing an RBI single to trim the deficit to one. Kanellakis continued to build on his strong afternoon, hitting a sacrifice fly to tie the game at six-all. With two runners on, Maifield launched a go-ahead three-run home run to put the game at its eventual 9-6 final. Jacob Ruesch silenced the Pioneers after entering in the fifth, earning the win by striking out four batters and allowing just one hit in 3.2 innings pitched. Anthony Sus closed things down in the ninth to pick up his first save of the season.
Maifield led the Vikings' 10-hit attack with three hits and three RBI.
Augustana finishes the regular season with a 34-6 overall record, 16-2 in conference. The team is on a 16-game winning streak entering postseason play, which opens with the six-team CCIW tournament held at Swanson Stadium in Moline, Ill. from May 10-13. The Vikings will face No. 6 seeded Carroll on Wednesday at noon.
