The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team fell to Augustana in their home opener doubleheader. The Vikings edged the Mustangs in game one, winning 2-1 and took game two 12-10.
The Mustangs were plagued by hot pitching from Augustana, who recorded 11 strikeouts from Derek Hanson.
Augustana jumped to an early lead in the first inning, scoring a homerun to take a 1-0 advantage. That score would hold steady until the seventh inning, when Augustana tacked on another run.
A Steven Kremer single for the Mustangs got pinch-runner Ryan Engels on base, followed by a walk from Mark Hanson. Jordon Kontz was walked, loading the bases for the Mustangs. A hit by Brian Ness brought in a run for the Mustangs to decrease the deficit to 2-1. A strikeout on Adam Thygesen ended the game for the Mustangs.
The Vikings were quick to distance themselves from the Mustangs in game two, where they jumped to a 10-0 lead. They would maintain an 11-2 advantage until the sixth inning.
The Mustangs started the seventh inning down 12-3. However, they would go on to score four runs in the seventh and an additional three in the eighth to close in on the Vikings’ lead.
The hot streak was cut short by the Vikings, who were just too much to handle. The Mustangs fall to a record of 16-11 overall and 6-6 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, while the Vikings improve to 17-10 overall and 12-4 in the NSIC.