MOLINE, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings baseball team secured two wins over the Millikin Big Blue on Saturday by scores of 5-0 and 8-4.
In the first game, both teams remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when Kaileb Hackman and Charlie Bergin reached base on a walk to begin the inning. With two outs, Alec McGinnis doubled to left center to bring Hackman home to obtain the early lead, followed by a Michael Aragon double to right field to score both runners and stretch the game to 3-0.
Both teams put up goose eggs until the seventh inning when Daniel Mosele reached base after knocking a single to right field. Bergin then doubled down the right-field line to tally another run. In the next inning, with a runner on second, Riley Hendren singled to right field to score the final run of the game to secure the 5-0 victory.
Augie collected eight hits in the win, with Bergin leading with two and Aragon batting two runs in. Zach DeMarlie earned the win on the mound after pitching seven innings with four strikeouts. Brian Fischer pitched a pair of scoreless innings in relief to keep the shoutout intact.
In game two, Millikin scored the first run, but Augie followed with one of its own in the bottom of the first inning. Hendren reached base on a throwing error by Millikin before stealing second and moved to third after a single. Mosele hit into a fielder's choice which allowed Hendren to tie the score at one apiece.
In the bottom of the third, Hendren started the inning with a double down the left field line before Hackman doubled to right center to bring him home and secure the 2-1 upper hand. Hackman later scored on a single by Mosele to stretch the game to 3-1. The Big Blue tallied another in the fourth, but in the bottom half Hendren singled up the middle to score Aragon who reached base after being hit by a pitch. Hackman hit a sacrifice fly to bring Colton Davis home after he doubled to get on base.
In the fifth inning, Millikin added two more runs to get within one at 5-4, but the Vikings collected three of their own again in the bottom half. Mosele kicked off the inning with a single before McGinnis reached on a fielder's choice to advance Mosele to third. Davis singled up the middle and brought both runners home prior to Coon's single up the middle to allow two more cross home plate. Both teams remained scoreless to conclude the game with an 8-4 victory for Augustana.
The Vikings notched nine hits, with Hackman, Mosele, and Davis hitting two apiece to go with two runs batted in. Adam Bendoraitis earned the win on the mound and Addison Southwick secured his second save of the season after 3.2 innings pitched and four strikeouts.
With the two wins, Augie moves to 11-9 on the season and 2-2 in conference action. The Vikings will be back in action tomorrow for the final game of the series in Decatur.
