Baseball 3/21/06 -- Augsburg 10-0, Johns Hopkins (Md.) 5-13

GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE


CHANDLER, Ariz. (3/21/06) -- It was a tale of two vastly different games for the Augsburg College baseball team in its doubleheader against Johns Hopkins University (Md.) at the Greater Phoenix Invitational on Tuesday at the Snedigar Complex in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler.

In the opener, Augsburg collected 12 hits and built a 10-1 lead after five innings, en route to a 10-5 victory. But in the second game, the Auggies were limited to just three hits in a 13-0 loss. Augsburg is now 7-2-1 on the season, while Johns Hopkins is now 8-3-1. Johns Hopkins, a team from the Centennial Conference, went 32-9 last season.

A five-run first inning enabled the Auggies to jump on the board early in the first game, keyed by a two-run double by Matt Johnson (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./Osseo HS). Four two-out singles were also part of the big inning.

Augsburg scored a single run in the fourth, then scored four runs in the fifth inning, as Jeff Stomberg (So., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) and Andy Nelson (Sr., Waseca, Minn.) each collected two-run singles.

Stomberg, Nate Jackson (Jr., Richfield, Minn.), Ricky Schreier (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and Darren Ginther (Sr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) had two hits each for the Auggies, with Ginther stroking a triple and Stomberg collecting three RBI. Jackson and Johnson scored two runs each.

Johns Hopkins scored four runs in the seventh inning, with the key hit a two-run double by Rob Sanzillo. Bryce Baumann and Matt Scally had two hits each for the Blue Jays.

Andrew Werner (So., Vermillion, Minn./Hastings HS) started for Augsburg and struck out two in six innings of work. Adam Johnson (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) and Tyler Kraft (Jr., Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) pitched in relief.

Augsburg was limited to just three hits in the second game -- a double by Ginther and singles by Dusty Hinz (Fr., Richfield, Minn.) and Matt Johnson. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins collected 15 hits off of three Augsburg pitchers, including a 3-for-5with two doubles and four RBI by Corey Gleason, and a three-double effort with two RBI by No. 9 hitter Nick Venezia. Jon Solomon and Tim Sliker had triples for the Blue Jays.

Brian Duddie pitched five innings to score the win, with Patrick Steffee pitching in relief. Augsburg's Pat Gornick (Sr., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) started, with Eric Grant (Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) and Brian Olson (Fr., Cottage Grove, Minn./Park HS) pitching in relief.

Augsburg returns to action at the Greater Phoenix Invitational on Wednesday (3/22) at 7 p.m., with a nine-inning nonconference game against Hamline University.