SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The No. 11 Augustana baseball team has had its doubleheader against Upper Iowa move back one day and change locations. The Vikings and Peacocks will play at the Luther College baseball field in Decorah, Iowa on Wednesday, March 28 starting at 1 p.m.

Series History
• Augustana leads the all-time series between the Vikings and Peacocks, 18-4
• Last season the Vikings and Peacocks split a pair of games in Sioux Falls on March 28, 2017
• In the last series played in Fayette was a four-game series on May 1-2, 2015. The Vikings swept the four game set
• The series between the two teams started back on April 22, 2009
• The teams have played a series every year since 2013 with the Vikings holding a 12-2 edge in that span

Statistical Rankings (as of 3/22)
• The Vikings rank in the top 10 in DII ranking fourth in hits allowed per nine (6.67) and WHIP?(1.13), fifth in strikeouts per nine (11.1), sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.15) and shutouts (four) and eighth in ERA (2.93)
• The Augustana offense ranks 25th?in batting avg. (.318), 40th in stolen bases (39) and 51st in runs per game (7.6)
• The Vikings defense ranks 16th with a fielding pct. of .974
• Augustana leads the NSIC in batting avg. (.321), runs (146), hits (211), doubles (43), fielding pct. (.974), ERA (2.92), strikeouts (188) and saves (six)

Three Amigos
• Augustana baseball has three senior transfer pitchers this season. David Flattery (Fort Dodge, Iowa) came from Omaha, Tyler Mitzel (Sioux Falls, S.D.) transferred from Arkansas State and Clay Collison (Algona, Iowa) transferred from Nebraska-Kearney
• Flattery has made four starts going 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA with 34 strikeouts and an opponent batting avg. of .145. Flattery is second on the team in innings pitched (24.0) and strikeouts and is fourth in the NSIC in strikeouts. Flattery is ninth in DII in hits allowed per nine (4.13), 33rd in strikeouts per nine (12.75) and 48th in WHIP?(0.96)
• Collison is an innings eater for the Vikings with three appearances out of the bullpen and one start totalling 13.1 innings and an ERA?of 1.35 with 16 K's
• Mitzel has made two starts and one relief appearance. Mitzel is 2-0 with a 4.35 ERA in 10.1 innings pitched

Party on Barth
• Freshman Jordan Barth (Cold Springs, Minn.) has become an RBI machine for the Vikings early on in his career
• Barth is the team leader in RBI (24) and has eight multi-RBI games in 17 games. Barth also second on the team in hits (23)
• Barth is tied for the team lead with four home runs

Blank is Blanking Teams
• Senior Jacob Blank (Gretna, Neb.) has picked up where he left off last season. Blank is 4-0 in five starts on the year with an ERA?of 2.81 with a team best 25.2 innings pitched and 35 strikeouts. Blank has one shutout on the year
• Blank ranks 28th in DII?in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.0), 34th in wins (four), 44th in strikeouts per nine (12.27) and 55th in WHIP?(0.97)
• Blank led Division II?last season with an ERA?of 0.78 with a record of 10-0. Blank earned a slew of awards last season including D2CCA and NCBWA National Pitcher of the Year, first team All-American, D2CCA and NCBWA Central Region Pitcher of the Year, NSIC Pitcher of the Year, first team All-NSIC, Brett Tomko Award Finalist, first team CoSIDA Academic All-American and Academic All-NSIC

Sophomore Sluggers
• Sam Baier (Springfield, Minn.) and Riley Johnson (Champlin, Minn.) are showing no signs of sophomore slumps in their seconds seasons
• Johnson broke a pair of school records during the opening weekend. Johnson recorded six hits in the season opener to break the school record of five and stole four bases in the series finale to tie the school record
• Johnson is batting leadoff for the Vikings is batting .380 with a team best 30 hits, 19 runs scored and is second on the team with eight steals
• Baier, the reigning NSIC?Freshman of the Year, is second on the team in RBI?(22) and is tied for the team lead in homers (four) hitting .313
• Johnson and Baier the only two fielders to start every game this season for the Vikings

Don't Run on Menssen
• Senior Ryan Menssen (St. James, Minn.) has been a stalwart behind the plate for the Vikings this season. The reigning NSIC?Gold Glove recipient has started 11 of the 15 contests at catcher and one as a designated hitter
• Menssen sports of fielding pct. of 1.000, 102 putouts and eight assists. Menssen has also thrown five potential base stealers this season out of 13 attempts and has picked off one runner
• Menssen has also been solid at the plate hitting .325 and is tops on the team with being hit by a pitch seven times this season.

Nickel for your Thoughts
• Ryan Nickel (Shoreview, Minn.) has made an instant impact as a freshmen. Nickel has appeared in every game for the Vikings and has made 12 starts, including the last 10 games
• Nickel leads the Vikings with a batting avg. of .439 (18-41) and on-base pct. (.520). Nickel is second on the team in runs scored (14) and walks (seven) and is third in stolen bases (four) and hits (18)
• Nickel is also the only Viking starter that has more walks (seven) than strikeouts (five)
• Nickel ranks 33rd in DII?in batting avg. (.439)

Svozil Style
• Michael Svozil (Millbrae, Calif.) has made a successful transition from the JUCO ranks to Division II. Svozil attended West Valley College where he appeared in 34 games while attaining a .323 batting average with a .384 slugging percentage. Svozil connected on nine RBI, scored 21 times and stole six bases.
• Svozil has brought energy with him in his first season at Augustana. Svozil has appeared in 16 games, making 15 starts, and is second on the team in batting avg. (.391)
• Svozil leads the team in stolen bases (11) and  in sacrifices with two sac hits and three sac flies.

Schmidt Happens
• Freshman Jed Schmidt (Mitchell, S.D.) has established himself as a future ace in the Vikings pitching staff
• Schmidt mans the fourth spot in the weekend rotation and is the only non-senior in the rotation (Blank, Flattery, Mitzel)
• Schmidt has made four appearances and two starts this season and is third on the team in innings pitched with 15.1. Schmidt is 1-0 with 14 strikeouts and the best starter's ERA?of 0.59. Schmidt has an opponents batting avg. of .118 and has one save
• Schmidt's best performance came against Northern State (3/18) where he tossed a complete game shutout allowing only one hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

National Rankings
• The Augustana baseball team is ranked No. 11 in the NCBWA Poll (3/21)
• Augustana is currently the top ranked NSIC?team in the poll and second in the Central Region (Central Missouri, 5th)
• On March 7, Augustana became ranked for the first time since April 26, 2016 when they were 22nd
• The Vikings have been ranked for three straight weeks in the NCBWA?Poll

NSIC Players of the Week
• The Vikings have had three NSIC?Players of the week this season
• Jacob Blank was named the NSIC?Pitcher of the Week and Jordan Barth earned NSIC?Player of the Week honor on March 5
• David Flattery was named the NSIC?Pitcher of the Week on March 26

Strong Start
• Augustana started its season by winning 12 straight games which is the best start in school history
• The Vikings started the season off with a season opening sweep of Hawaii-Hilo
• It was the first season opening sweep for Augustana since 2006 when they swept Oklahoma Panhandle State in Goodwell, Okla.
• The Vikings opened the season with a win for the first time since 2011 when they defeated Colorado Mines 15-5.
• The Vikings previous best start to a season when the 1968 team started 5-0

New Kids on the Block
• Overall 17 new or redshirted Vikings seen action this season
• The 17 are made up of nine true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen, one junior, two junior college transfers and three senior transfers

Upper Iowa Notes
• Upper Iowa enters the midweek doubleheader with a record of 7-6 (5-2 NSIC) after four-game sweep of U-Mary this past weekend. The Peacocks won 4-0, 8-7, 12-11 and 6-1
• The Golden Eagles rank 14th in DII in sacrifice bunts (22) and 35th in triples (seven)
• Jacob Greco paces the Peacocks offensively leading the team in hitting (.370), home runs (two), hits (17) and runs scored (10)
• Along with Greco, Dominic Hillesheim (.359), Conner Klostermann (.349), Emmett Kulick (.321) and Zackary Cain (.304) each are batting over .300
• Greco, Cain and Tony Salato have started every game for the Peacocks
• The ERA?leader for the Peacocks is Colin Lacey who sports an ERA of 1.38. Lacey ranks 33rd in DII?in ERA. Lacey is 2-0 in two starts with a complete game shutout to his credit
• Kolton Gonnerman is 2-1 in three starts with an ERA?of 2.81 and 12 K's on the season
• Out of the bullpen, Tyus Adkins has made five appearances with a record of 1-0 with one save and four K's in eight innings of work

Next Series
Next up for Augustana will be a four-game series against Bemidji State on March 30-31. The series has been moved to Sioux Falls due to weather in Bemidji, Minn.