Effective pitching in the first game and solid hitting in the second game added up to a doubleheader sweep as Augustana defeated Northern State twice on Sunday in college baseball.
The Vikings won by scores of 3-1 and 14-3, taking all four games of the weekend series. Late Saturday, Augustana defeated Northern 5-1 after a 8-7 win in the first game.
All of the scoring in Sunday's opening game took place in the final inning. Northern pitcher Cassidy Gaines threw 6 innings before giving way to Adam Thompson. Gaines allowed two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Kye Winter, who finished the day with three homers overall, had the big blow for the Vikings with a three-run shot.
Northern was held to just three hits by Augie pitcher Jordan Milbrath, who struck out six and did not allow an earned run. The Wolves tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh, and scored when Maurice Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to score Cameron Lehner, but left two runners on when the game ended.
There was no such drama in game two, as Augustana put together several big innings, pounding out 16 hits. The Wolves produced three runs in the fourth to tie the game, but were held scoreless the rest of the way. Northern scored on ground-outs from Derek Tymesen and Trevor Sporrer, and a single from Buddy Traxler. Robbie Rocamora and Rodriguez had two hits each for the Wolves.
Winter homered twice and had a triple, driving in six runs to pace the Augustana effort. Alex Fink added four hits, three of them doubles. Eight of the Augie hits went for extra bases.
Late Saturday, three Augustana pitchers held the Wolves to three hits. Northern scored its lone run on a single from Rocamora, who had two of NSU's hits. Grant Larson threw five innings in relief for the win, allowing two hits and striking out seven. Nathan Nietfeld took the loss for the Wolves, allowing four earned runs over 6 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Northern fell to 13-15 on the season and is 6-8 in conference play. The Wolves are scheduled to play a doubleheader at Minot State Wednesday starting at 1 p.m.
|Sunday's Games|
Augustana|0000003-352
Northern State|0000001-130
Jordan Milbrath and Ben Ludwigson; Kassidy Gaines, Adam Thompson (7) and Buddy Traxler. 2B - Augustana, Marcus O'Neill; Northern State, Maurice Rodriguez. HR - Augustana, Kye Winter.
Augustana|0210416-14160
Northern State|0003000-371
Bennett Johnson, Sam Gotham (5), Tyson Gau (7) and Jack Goihl, T.J. Davis; Hayden Rovengo, Kyle Sonntag (4), Ben Buckingham (6), John Eckstein (7), Robbie Rocamora (7) and Traxler. 2B - Augustana, O'Neill, Alex Fink 3; Northern State, Cameron Lehner, Rocamora, Rodriguez 2, Traxler. 3B - Augustana, Winter. HR - Augustana, O'Neill, Winter 2.
|Saturday's Late Game|
Augustana|0010112-592
Northern State|1000000-132
Ben Heairet, Grant Larson (2), Michael Letkewicz (7) and Jack Goihl, Ben Ludwigson; Nathan Nietfeld, Andrew Crisman (7), John Eckstein (7) and Buddy Traxler. 2B - Augustana, Jake Petersen, Marcus O'Neill, Alex Fink 2. 3B - Augustana, O'Neill.