Baseball 3/26/02 -- Augsburg 17, Colby (Maine) 10

GAME BOXSCORE

FORT MYERS, Fla. (3/26/02) -- Ryan Krautkremer (Sr., Waseca, Minn.) and Adam Larson (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) hit two home runs apiece, as Augsburg College claimed a 17-10 victory over Colby College (Maine) in a Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic baseball game on Tuesday afternoon at Cape Coral Field.

Augsburg scored 12 runs in the first two innings to break a six-game losing streak. Augsburg had six home runs in the game to improve to 4-10 overall. Colby falls to 1-3 on the season.

Sending 11 batters to the plate in the first inning, Augsburg jumped out to a 7-1 advantage. Larson led the way for the Auggies with a three-run homer, while Jon Kozitza (So., North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS) and Joe Holman (Jr., Springfield, Minn.) each had run-scoring singles.

Krautkremer hit his first home run in the second inning, a two-run shot, a feat eclipsed by teammate Sammy Gross (Jr., Springfield, Minn.), who smacked a three-run homer later in the frame.

Nick Rathmann (Jr., Waseca, Minn.) led off the third inning with a solo homer, and Gross drove in a run with a double in the fourth. Collin Nash (So., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) brought in a run on a double in the sixth, and Krautkremer and Larson each hit solo homers for their second round-trippers of the day in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

The game was a slugfest, as the teams combined for 27 runs and 31 hits. Colby scored single runs in the first, second and fourth innings, and brought two runs across in the fifth and three in the sixth. Single runs came across in the seventh and ninth innings.

Krautkremer went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the Auggies, scoring three runs and driving in four. Gross went 3-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs. Nash had two doubles. Kozitza, Holman and Larson all had two hits, with Larson notching four RBI.

Adam Jensen (So., New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) started the game and picked up the pitching win for Augsburg, striking out four while walking two in five innings of work. Jared Lynch (Sr., Jordan, Minn.) pitched four innings of relief, striking out one.

Colby was paced by Matthew Simard, B.L. Lippert and Eric Roy, who had three hits apiece. Lippert drove in three runs, adding a home run, while Roy had two doubles. Brandon Irwin also had two doubles for Colby.

The Mules used three pitchers in the game, with starter Daniel Deacon lasting just an inning-and-a-third, giving up 11 runs. Simard and Philip Geiger pitched in relief.

Augsburg returns to action in the Gene Cusic Classic on Wednesday (3/27), facing Wisconsin-Platteville at 6 p.m.

Augsburg 17, Colby (Maine) 10
Colby -- 110 123 101 -- 10-16-2
Augsburg -- 751 101 11x -- 17-15-5
Jensen, Lynch (6) and Gross; Deacon, Simard (2), Geiger (5) and Roy. WP-Jensen, LP-Deacon. HR-Krautkremer 2, Larson 2, Gross, Rathmann, Lippert. T-3:05. A-50.