Baseball 4/7/04 -- Augsburg 11-12, Bethel 12-8

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (4/7/04) -- Kirby Carr (Fr., Fergus Falls, Minn.) hit two home runs on the afternoon and drove in five runs for Bethel College, while Augsburg College's Taylor Pagel (Jr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) hit a grand-slam homer in the first game, as the two teams split a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Parade Stadium.

Bethel took an early lead and hung on for a 12-11 win in the first game, but Augsburg used a nine-run fifth inning to rally for a 12-8 win in the second game, Augsburg's seventh doubleheader split in its nine twinbills this year.

Augsburg is now 10-11 overall and 2-2 in MIAC play, eclipsing last year's win total (9-24-2) in the first season for new Augsburg coach Keith Bateman, a 1998 Bethel graduate. Bethel is now 16-4 overall and 3-1 in MIAC play.

Augsburg rallied from an 8-2 deficit to tie the first game at 9-9 entering the seventh inning, but Carr blasted a two-out, three-run homer to put the Royals ahead 12-9. Augsburg scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but stranded two runners on base on a game-ending groundout.

Bethel took advantage of a shaky pitching start to build a big lead in the first game. The Royals scored twice on Augsburg starter Josh Remme (So., Faribault, Minn.), as he surrendered five walks in his seven batters faced -- including two with the bases loaded. Adam Johnson (Fr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) relieved him, but allowed six runs in three innings of work, also walking in two runs.

Augsburg got on the board in the second inning on a two-run double by Joe Haehn (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS), but Bethel's Peter Harrell (Jr., Minnetrista, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) matched it with a two-run double of his own in the third. The Royals scored twice more in the fourth, on another two-run double by Chris Carroll (Sr., Roseville, Minn.).

Augsburg then started its comeback with a bases-loaded walk in the fourth against Royal starter Ryan Mahoney (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Harding HS). The Auggies loaded the bases in the fifth on three singles, then Pagel blasted his team-leading third home run of the season off reliever Justin Haddock (Jr., Burnsville, Minn./Bethany Academy HS) to put the hosts back into the game.

Bethel scored in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Dan Villas (Fr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS), but Augsburg tied the game on a two-run homer by Pat Knafla (Sr., Rice, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice HS).

Reliever Tyler Kraft (Fr., Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) took the loss for the Auggies, pitching the last inning-and-two-thirds. Haddock survived for the win, with Eric Drake (Jr., Barrington, Ill./Lake Zurich HS) scoring the save, getting the final two outs of the game.

Bethel again took an early lead in the second game, building a 6-2 advantage after four innings. But Augsburg sent 13 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring nine runs to blow the game open. The Auggies used five hits and took advantage of three errors to score the nine runs -- as just two of the 11 runs charged against Bethel starter Jason Steffenhagen (Sr., Maple Plaine, Minn./Orono HS) were earned.

A two-run single by Pagel, two-run triple by Troy Deden (So., Northfield, Minn.), two-run double by Darren Ginther (So., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) and a run-scoring single by Knafla were the highlights of the nine-run fifth inning.

After Pagel led off the sixth inning with a triple to center, Augsburg capped its scoring by generating a run on a sacrifice, suicide-squeeze bunt by Haehn. Bethel scored twice in the seventh, on a solo homer by Carr and a run-scoring single by Harrell, but the Royals stranded two runners on base to end the game.

Matt Johnson (Fr., Plymouth, Minn./Osseo HS) started and pitched three-and-two-thirds innings, striking out two. Chris Schroeder (Fr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Washington HS) picked up his first collegiate win in relief, striking out five the rest of the way.

Bethel scored twice in the second, as Alex Garee (Jr., Maple Grove, Minn./Minnehaha Academy HS) drove in a run on a triple and scored on a single by Harrell. Augsburg scored a single run in the second, but Bethel scored four runs in the fourth inning, as Zach Ludvigson (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) drove in two runs on a triple.

Augsburg has two MIAC doubleheaders on the road, with a 1 p.m. twinbill at St. John's on Saturday (4/10) and a 2:30 p.m. twinbill at Hamline on Tuesday (4/13). Bethel returns to action with an MIAC doubleheader on Tuesday, playing at Gustavus at 2:30 p.m.