MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The Augustana Vikings baseball kicked off its 2024 season at the Rhodes Classic on Saturday, defeating the Greenville Panthers by a score of 8-2.

After a pair of scoreless innings, the Vikings got on the board first in the bottom of the third. Following a single from Cole Green, a steal and groundout moved him over to third before he crossed home on a passed ball. Augie broke the game open the following inning, plating six runs to make it a 7-0 lead. Green got the scoring going with an RBI double before an RBI single the next at-bat from Alec McGinnis made it a 3-0 game. With two outs and the bases loaded, Grant Biggins earned an RBI with a walk, followed by a two-run single from Carter Foat. Michael Aragon capped off the big inning with a run-scoring single to bring in Biggins.

The Vikings added onto their lead in the fifth with another tally, this time seeing an RBI single from Dymitri Kanellakis bring in McGinnis to make it 8-0. The Panthers notched a run in the seventh and eighth innings to inch closer, but Augie closed things down with a three-up, three-down frame in the ninth.

Adam Bendoraitis earned the win on the mound for the Vikings, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings and striking out eight. Augie out-hit Greenville 10-7 in the win, led by 2-3 efforts from both Biggins and Kanellakis Green and Aragon also collected two hits apiece.

With the win, Augie improves to 1-0 on the year. The team will be back in action tomorrow as they take on the host school Rhodes at 11 a.m.