The Vikings of Augustana College pounded out 38 hits for 41 runs in a pair of games against the Peacocks on Friday afternoon in Fayette. Upper Iowa trailed 10-0 in game one, but rallied back to a two-run differential in two different innings, but eventually fell 17-12 in game one. Augie's offense did even more damage in game two as the visitors posted a 24-6 win to improve to 32-15 overall and 23-9 in the NSIC to remain in third place. UIU falls to 19-29 overall and 11-23 in the conference after the two losses.
Augustana scored eight runs in the opening frame of game one thanks to five hits, a pair of walks, a hit batsmen and two Peacock errors. The Vikings added two more runs in the second with four hits after Upper Iowa got the first two batters of the inning out.
Alex George led off the bottom of the second with a single and moved to third when
Eric Cottrell doubled to the wall in centerfield. Jacob Stenberg drove in one run on a sac fly to give the home team their first run.
In the bottom of the third, Upper Iowa scored seven runs to cut the big deficit to just two, 10-8.
Mitch Moser doubled down the left field line to drive in the first run of the inning and
Jacob Greco followed with a three-run homerun to left centerfield. George singled for the second time in as many innings. The Peacock right fielder moved to third when the Vikings threw a pickoff attempt into their bullpen area. Cottrell picked up his second hit and a run batted with a single to right center. After a pitching change, Jacob Stenberg singled to the left side and
Adam Budron followed with a flair single to plate Cottrell. A pair of walks reloaded the bases and
Luis Ravelo pushed the final run of the inning home on a ground out. The Viking right fielder, Patrick O'Donnell, made a dazzling play on a line drive off the bat of Moser to end the inning without any further damage.
Augustana turned the momentum right back in their favor in the top of the fourth with three runs on five hits to take a five-run lead, 13-8. Upper Iowa answered with two runs of their own thanks to a solo shot over the wall in left by Greco to open the frame and added a second run when Stenberg tripled and
Colton Janssen singled through the right side.
George picked up his third hit of the game in the fifth inning with an rbi-single to send Ravelo home. Later in the inning, the Peacocks had a pair of runners in scoring position with one out, but a strikeout and a great throw by Justin Warne deep in the hole at short got Augustana out of the jam.
After allowing UIU to crawl back within two runs for the second time in the game, the Vikings pushed their lead to a half dozen, 17-11, with four runs on four hits including a two-run homer by Alex Fink to right center.
UIU's final run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth;
Adam Budron opened the inning with a double and was pushed to third after a walk and fielding error loaded the bases with no outs. Augustana battled to record three straight outs surrendering just one run on a Moser sac fly to right.
Charley Cunningham (4-4) suffered the loss after being roughed up in the first inning for eight runs, five were earned, on five hits.
Dan Cwiertniak allowed 5 runs on 10 hits during his three innings on the hill and Blake Sorensen gave up four runs in the sixth on four hits.
Jordan Kearns was the only Peacock hurler to escape without allowing a run; the right hander gave up two hits in the seventh.
George led a group of five Peacocks who recorded multiple hits; the right fielder had three hits in the game, while Greco went 2 for 4 with two homeruns and four rbi's.
The Vikings' offense picked up right where they left off in game two scoring four runs in the first, a run in the second and two more in the third to jump out to an early 7-0 lead on just six hits highlighted by an Alex Fink two-run homerun in the third.
Three straight base hits for the Peacocks gave the home team their first run thanks to singles by Janssen,
Cody Booker and Ravelo. After a fielder's choice and walk, the bases were loaded for George with one out. The Peacock sophomore delivered with a two-run single up the middle to cut the gap to four, 7-3, and left runners on first and second with one out. A double play ended the Peacock rally and moved the game into the fourth inning.
Augustana scored 14 runs on 6 hits, 4 walks, 4 hit batsmen and one Peacock error in the top of the fourth to pull out to a big 21-3 lead. The Vikings hit two grand slams in the inning off the bats of Lucas Wilbur and Bryce Berg. UIU used four pitchers to get the three outs in the inning including the starter
Zach Carstens,
Brandon Nicholson,
Shimpei Sato and
Cody Heiman.
The visitors added two runs on two hits including a homerun by pinch hitter Zach Dibble in the fifth.
Tanner Poor earned an rbi in the fifth inning with a bases loaded walk with two outs as both teams began to empty the benches. After Augie tacked a run on in the top of the sixth, the Peacocks scored a pair of runs on a homerun by George over the left field fence.
The UIU pitchers struggled not only against the hitters of Augustana, but also with their own control. The four hurlers in game two handed out 6 walks and 7 hit batsmen. Carstens fell to 0-5 on the season suffering the loss after his three innings on the hill. Heiman logged the most time on the mound closing out the game with 3.2 innings.
The two teams will be back at Robertson Woods Field tomorrow for the final double header of Upper Iowa's season at 12 p.m. The Peacock student government is hosting a barbecue at the field as well from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday is also Senior Day for the UIU baseball team and they will recognize their nine seniors in between games.
