Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2
Behind a pair of strong pitching performances, the Augustana baseball was able to beat the No. 18 University of Concordia, St. Paul 2-1 in both doubleheader games Sunday in Minnetonka, Minn. to take three out of four games in the weekend series.
The Vikings improve to 11-6 on the season and 3-1 in the Northern Intercollegiate Conference, while the Golden Bears drop to 16-6 overall and 1-3 in the NSIC.
Game 1
Kenny Lidke (2-0) won the pitching dual against Chris Kimpton (2-2), after giving up just 1 run on 4 hits in 6.1 innings, while striking out 6 batters.
The Vikings got on the board first as
Drew Heithoff singled to right field with two outs and
Tom Hill followed it with a double to the right center gap to score Heithoff to take a 1-0 inning into the bottom of the third inning.
In the top of the sixth, Augie got on the board again as
Ian Strum led off with a single and then stole second and third base. After a walk,
Charlie Dubanoski drove the ball into centerfield to score Strum on the sacrifice fly.
It took until the last inning for Concordia to get anything going offensively. After getting the lead off batter to pop out, Lidke ended his strong pitching performance by giving up a home run to Logan Bouts to bring the Golden Bears a run closer.
Bret Severtson came in to relieve Lidke and gave up a hit to the first batter he faced, but was able to get a ground ball double play to end the game.
Heithoff went 2-for-2 and scored a run to spark the offense, while Strum went 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Game 2
In a second consecutive pitching dual, Hill delivered a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning to move past the Golden Bears for the third game in a row.
Per Nestigen pitched a 2-hit gem for Augustana, while
Jeff Green came in and pitched 3 scoreless innings to hold off Concordia.
Nestigen struck out 1 batter and gave up the only run of the game in the fifth inning before turning the game over to Green, who stuck out 2 batters and did not give up a hit.
Augie again put the first run across when
Mitch Anderson led off with a single in the top of the fifth and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Heithoff scored Anderson on a double to the right center gap.
The Golden Bears matched the Vikings in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 1-1 to set up the extra inning of play.
With one down and no runners on, Hill homered over the center field fence for the game-winning hit and his second RBI of the doubleheader.
The Vikings had a combined 6 hits in the game, as 6 different batters recorded a hit.
Augustana will be back at home to play Minnesota-Crookston in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Ronken Field. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.