KENOSHA, Wis. – The Augustana Vikings baseball team dropped both games in Saturday's twinbill, falling 10-6 and 11-1 to the Carthage Firebirds.
GAME ONE
The Vikings fell behind early, trailing 1-0 before knotting up the score in the third. After
Christian Clark singled down the third-base line,
Riley Hendren ripped a double to left field, driving in Clark from first. That tie was short-lived, as Carthage responded in the bottom of the frame with two runs to jump back in front, 3-1.
Augustana found another run in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs,
Ryan Theile singled past the shortstop, and
Lawson Shickel found a soft spot in left field to put two men on.
Zach Quimby, not wanting to be left out, found another hole in the left-field defense, bringing home Theile to chip into the Carthage lead. That was all the damage the Vikings could muster, trailing 3-2 to close the frame. Carthage picked up two more runs in the fifth, leading 5-2 heading into the sixth.
The Vikings found their only lead of the game in the sixth.
AJ Macak got things rolling with a leadoff walk and promptly stole second. Theile walked as the second batter, and Shickel took a pitch to the shoulder, loading the bases with no outs in the inning. Quimby picked up an RBI and reached via fielder's choice, as Macak crossed home to make it a 5-3 ballgame. Clark saw his opportunity to join the fun and roped a single between the shortstop and second baseman, allowing Theile to cross the dish and pull the Vikings within one. Hendren followed up the string of scoring with a ground-rule double, as the tying run of Quimby came racing home.
Ryan Coon delivered the go-ahead attack, grounding out to second and allowing Clark to dash the final 90 feet, pushing the Vikings in front, 6-5.
Carthage wasted no time taking the lead back from the visitors. The hosts plated four runs in the sixth before shutting the Vikings out in the final three frames. For good measure, Carthage added one more insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, cementing the 10-6 lead and the win.
Clark and Hendren led the Vikings with two hits apiece. The Vikings combined for six runs on seven hits in the loss.
GAME TWO
The Vikings offense struggled to find any rhythm in game two. With just two runners aboard for Augustana in the first three innings, Shickel scored the Vikings' only run of game two in the fourth. After a single past the first baseman, he moved up to second on a groundout. It was Macak who drove in the run with a ground-rule double to left-center field, as Shickel picked up the bases he needed to end the scoring drought.
Augustana surrendered eight more runs the rest of the way. Opportunities came in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings for the Vikings, but stout defensive play from Carthage shut the door on the comeback attempt.
With the losses, the Vikings close out the regular season 25-15, 10-10 in CCIW play. Augustana turns its attention to the CCIW tournament, where it will take on Carthage in the first round. The tournament run will begin on Wednesday, May 6, hosted by Millikin.
