Baseball 5/6/05 -- Augsburg 4-19, Macalester 1-4

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE


ST. PAUL, Minn. (5/6/05) -- Troy Deden (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) hit two home runs and added two doubles, going 4-for-5 at the plate with seven RBI in the doubleheader, while Darren Ginther (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) struck out five in a complete-game effort in the first game, as the Augsburg College baseball team scored a key Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of Macalester College on Friday afternoon at Macalester Field.

Augsburg won the first game 4-1 and the second game 19-4 to improve to 21-13 overall, 11-5 in MIAC play. Augsburg has won its last four games in a row and eight of its last nine. Macalester finishes its season at 12-24 overall, 6-14 in MIAC play. The games were moved from Augsburg to Macalester due to a scheduling conflict at Augsburg's home field, Parade Stadium. Augsburg was the home team in both games.

With four games remaining in the regular season, Augsburg clinched just its third 20-win campaign since 1992 (23-17) and also clinched an above-.500 finish in MIAC play for the first time since 1992 (12-8). Augsburg also went 20-22 (6-14 MIAC) in the 2001 season. Augsburg's most wins came in its last MIAC title season, 1987 (31-10, 16-4 MIAC).

Augsburg remains in the hunt for its first-ever berth in the four-team MIAC postseason playoffs. Five teams, including Augsburg, have at least 10 wins in league play, with the Auggies' next opponent, St. Thomas, having already clinched at least a share of the league title with a 15-3 league mark (24-10 overall). St. Olaf is second with a 12-6 MIAC record (22-14 overall), while Augsburg is third at 11-5 (21-13). Concordia is 10-6 (15-17 overall) and Gustavus is 10-8 (18-17 MIAC).

With St. Thomas and St. Olaf already having clinched spots in the league playoffs, the final weekend of the regular season will determine the two remaining entrants. On Saturday (5/7) at 1 p.m., Bethel (17-17 overall, 9-9 MIAC) plays at Concordia, and St. John's (16-16 overall, 9-9 MIAC) plays at Gustavus. On Sunday (5/8) at 1 p.m., Augsburg plays at St. Thomas and St. Olaf plays at St. Mary's (15-13 overall, 7-11 MIAC). And on Monday (5/9) at 12 noon, the regular season concludes as Augsburg and Concordia face off in a rescheduled doubleheader to be played at Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minn.

Augsburg manufactured its runs in the first game, with just six hits in the contest. The Auggies took advantage of a solid pitching performance by Ginther, who struck out five while walking two and allowing just six hits in his fourth complete game of the season, improving to 5-2 on the year.

Deden and teammate Andrew Werner (Fr., Vermillion, Minn./Hastings HS) each stroked a home run and double in the first game.

In the first inning, Deden doubled to drive in Matt Johnson (So., Plymouth, Minn./Osseo HS), and Werner hit a one-out solo homer to left field in the second inning. Deden then followed with a solo homer in the third inning, and after Macalester got on the board with a solo homer by Kyle Goerschler (So., Elk Grove, Ill.), the Auggies capped the scoring in the sixth, as Werner doubled and scored on an RBI single by Brian Bambenek (So., St. Charles, Minn.).

Liam Bowen (Jr., Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair HS) pitched a complete-game effort for Macalester in the first game, striking out four while walking three.

While the first game was a relatively close affair, the second game was a slugfest, as Augsburg pounded out a season-high 22 hits, with 12 Auggies netting at least one hit against five Macalester pitchers. Augsburg took advnatage of seven extra-base hits -- five doubles and two home runs -- in the game.

Meanwhile, Augsburg pitcher Jeremy Nelson (Sr., Maplewood, Minn./Roseville HS) improved to a career-best 7-2, striking out two while allowing one walk and six hits in four innings of work. Eric Grant (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Tyler Kraft (So., Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) pitched in relief for the Auggies.

A three-run homer by Deden to right-center put the Auggies ahead in the third inning, and Augsburg broke open the game with an eight-run fourth inning, sending 13 batters to the plate and claiming seven hits. Jeff Stomberg (Fr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) and Ricky Schreier (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) had RBI singles, Ginther had a two-run single, Taylor Pagel (Sr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) had a two-run double, Werner had a run-scoring double and Mike Zaun (Fr., Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) had a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the decisive frame.

A double by Deden and a single by Pagel plated runs in the fifth, and Augsburg scored five runs in the sixth, sending 11 batters to the plate and netting seven hits. A two-run homer by Ginther started the scoring, followed by run-scoring singles by Schreier and Mark Bauer (So., Hastings, Minn.) and a bases-loaded hit batter.

Macalester scored its runs on an RBI single by Andrew Percival (Jr., Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep HS) in the first inning, a sacrifice fly by Mike Merrill (Sr., Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township HS) in the fourth and a double by Josh Ortiz (Sr., LaJunta, Colo.) and sinble by John Simkins (Fr., Galesburg, Ill.) in the fifth.

Ginther went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four driven in, while Deden went 2-for-3 with five RBI and three runs scored. Schreier went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI, and Pagel went 2-for-4 with a run scored and three driven in. Werner, Bambenek, Johnson and Stomberg also had two hits each, with Stomberg and Johnson scoring three runs apiece.

Merrill, Percival, Goerschler, Ortiz and Simkins had two hits each for Macalester.