Baseball 4/14/03 -- Augsburg 5-5, St. Mary's 4-7

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE


MINNEAPOLIS (4/14/03) -- A two-out, two-run double by Joe Haehn (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) in the bottom of the sixth inning drove in the winning run for Augsburg College in the first game, while Rob Kimlinger (Jr., Lake Elmo, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) had a double and home run, scoring three runs for St. Mary's University in the second game, as the teams split a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader Monday afternoon at Parade Stadium.

Augsburg won the first game 5-4, while St. Mary's won the second game 7-5. Augsburg is now 9-14-2 overall and 4-6 in MIAC play, splitting four of its five conference doubleheaders as the league season reaches its halfway point. Under first-year head coach Douge Schildgen, Augsburg has now equaled the number of overall wins it had last season (9-29) while surpassing its conference win total from last year (3-17). St. Mary's is now 10-8 overall and 5-3 in MIAC play.

In the first game, Augsburg built an early lead with a three-run second inning, with run-scoring singles by Nick Rathmann (Sr., Waseca, Minn.) and Pat Marsh (Sr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS), and a sacrifice fly by Andy Nelson (Fr., Waseca, Minn.).

But St. Mary's generated runs in a three-inning span to take the lead. Dan Cosgrove (Fr., South St. Paul, Minn.) doubled to drive in a run in the second inning, and the Cardinals scored a run on two Augsburg errors in the third inning. In the fourth, St. Mary's took the lead with five straight base hits, including run-scoring singles by Ryan Majerus (So., St. Charles, Minn.) and Tony Cicalello (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and a double by Matt Rink (So., Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS).

Augsburg scored the win in the sixth inning. After loading the bases with one out, M.J. Iverson (Sr., New Germany, Minn./Norwood-Young America Central HS) drove in the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly, and Haehn hit a double to right field to bring home the game-winner.

Tyler Suter (Fr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS), pitching in relief, picked up the pitching win for the Auggies, pitching the final two innings in order and striking out three of the six batters he faced. Starter Jon Golnitz (So., Green Bay, Wis./Preble HS) struck out four in three-plus innings of work.

St. Mary's built a 5-0 lead after four innings of the second game, but the Auggies tied the game with a five-run bottom of the fourth inning. The Cardinals claimed the win, however, with single runs in the next two innings.

In the fifth, Kimlinger broke the tie with a solo home run, followed by a solo home run by Matt Domarus (Sr., Woodbury, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) in the top of the sixth inning. Reliever Dane Bonath (So., Robbinsdale, Minn./De La Salle HS) picked up the win with two scoreless innings of work, with Nick Steig (Jr., Osseo, Wis./Whitehall HS) scoring the save by retiring the Auggies in the seventh inning.

St. Mary's scored twice in the second inning, on a run-scoring single by Jose Rueda (So., Winona, Minn.) and a double by Domarus. In the fourth, Kimlinger reached base on a walk, stole second and scored on a wild pitch, followed by run-scoring singles by Troy Deden (Fr., Northfield, Minn.) and Majerus.

Augsburg parlayed four hits into five runs in the bottom of the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate. A double by Pat Knafla (Jr., Rice, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice HS) set the table, and Taylor Pagel (So., Cannon Falls, Minn.) drove in two runs on a double. A two-run single by Joe Holman (Sr. Springfield, Minn.) and a run-scoring single by Iverson brought in the other Auggie runs in the frame.

St. Mary's returns to MIAC action on Wednesday (4/16) at 2:30 p.m., hosting Gustavus. Augsburg has a nonconference doubleheader at Crown (St. Bonifacus, Minn.) on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.