MOLINE, Ill. -- The Augustana Viking baseball team secured a 15-12 victory over the Illinois College Blue Boys on Friday to open the Augustana Invitational. 

Illinois College scored first in the top of the first, but Augie followed with two of its own after RBI singles by Kaileb Hackman and Ryan Theile to secure the early lead. The Blue Boys went back out in front after putting up four in the second inning and another in the third to make it a 6-2 game.

The Vikings scored seven in a big fourth inning to snatch a three-run advantage. Augie's first three runs in the frame were via a walk, error, and wild pitch before Riley Hendren doubled to left to add two more. Another error by the Blue Boys kept the scoring streak alive with Hackman closing the inning with a single to create a 9-6 score. Augustana tallied one more onto its total in the fifth with a Dymitri Kanellakis run-scoring single to extend the margin to four.

In the seventh inning, Illinois College used a two-run homer to get within two, but the Vikings countered with two of their own after Daniel Mosele singled through the left side and Hackman scored on a wild pitch to stretch the gap to 12-8. The Blue Boys batted in a run in the top of the eighth before Augie followed with three. Ryan Coon singled to left center to bat two runs home before a sacrifice fly allowed another to cross home plate. Illinois College grabbed two more runs in the final inning but the Vikings held the lead for a final score of 15-12. 

As a team, Augie totaled 10 hits. Coon led the way with three, while Hackman batted three runs in. Adam Bendoraitis earned the win on the mound after throwing four innings and notching six strikeouts. Addison Southwick secured the save after three innings of work.

With the win, the Vikings move to 5-4 on the season and will be back in action tomorrow for day two of the Augustana Invitational with a game against Buena Vista at 4:30 p.m.