Baseball 4/13/07 -- Augsburg 4-3, St. Mary's 3-2 (1st game 8 inn.)
GAME 1 BOXSCORE
GAME 2 BOXSCORE
DUNDAS, Minn. (4/13/07) -- Scoring the game-winning runs in its final at-bats in both games, the Augsburg College baseball team scored a sweep of St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader on Friday afternoon at Dundas Memorial Park.
Augsburg (11-10 overall, 3-1 MIAC) won the first game 4-3 in eight innings, while taking the second game 3-2 to sweep the games from St. Mary's (4-13 overall, 0-6 MIAC). The games were moved to Dundas due to weather-related field conditions at Augsburg's normal home field, Parade Stadium in Minneapolis. It was Augsburg's first games since March 31.
Augsburg came from behind in both games to score the wins. In the first game, Augsburg tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Mike Zaun (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) singled to drive in Andy Nelson * (Sr., Waseca, Minn.), who had reached base on a throwing error and stole second.
In the eighth, Eric Olson * (Fr., New Prague, Minn.) was hit by a pitch, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Stomberg (Jr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS). An intentional walk and hit batter loaded the bases, and pinch-hitter Dusty Hinz (So., Richfield, Minn.) hit a single to right-center to plate Olson with the game-winning run.
Augsburg opened the first game with a run, as a Zaun double plated Nelson. But St. Mary's took the lead with two runs in the fourth inning and a run in the fifth. In the fourth, Robbie Johnson (So., Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater HS) singled and scored following a throwing error, and an RBI single by Alex Schmidt (So., La Crosse, Wis./Central HS) plated Nick Winecke (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS). In the fifth, Kyle Ryan (Fr., St. Paul, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) was hit by a pitch, advanced on a passed ball and wild pitch, and scored on a single by Johnson.
Johnson went 3-for-4 for the Cardinals in the first game, while Zaun's 2-for-3 effort led the Auggies. Neither starting pitcher figured in the decision, as Jason Kickhafer (So., Cottage Grove, Minn./Park HS) pitched seven innings and struck out four for Augsburg, while Matt Popek (Sr., Eagan, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) struck out four in seven innings for St. Mary's. Augsburg's Tyler Kraft * (Sr., Savage, Minn./Burnsville HS) scored the win in relief, with Brett Ferschweiler (Fr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) took the loss.
In the second game, a two-run double by Aaron Hazen (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Auggies the win, scoring James Panning (So., Gibbon, Minn./Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop HS) and Craig Henry (Fr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS). Henry had two hits for the Auggies in the second game.
Augsburg took the early lead again, as a double by Stomberg plated Brian Bambenek * (Sr., St. Charles, Minn.) in the second inning. But St. Mary's took the lead in the fourth, as Winecke hit a double, Brandon Haugh (So., Easton, Minn./United South Central HS) walked and Zach Olberding (Fr., Maplewood, Minn./Roseville HS) hit a single, combined with an error, that plated both Winecke and Haugh.
St. Mary's had just two hits in the second game, Winecke's double and Olberding's single, both off of Augsburg starter Chris Purcell (Fr., Northfield, Minn.). Relievers Alex Glasenapp (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) and Derek Goodnature (Sr., Albert Lea, Minn.) did not allow a St. Mary's hit in their outings, with both striking out two Cardinals. Goodnature claimed the win with two innings of relief.
St. Mary's starter Joe Krause (Fr., St. James, Minn.) struck out four while walking three in 5.2 innings of work. Matt Wilgenbusch (Fr., Rickardsville, Iowa/Beckman HS) took the loss for the Cardinals in relief.
Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (4/14) with 1 p.m. doubleheaders, as Augsbug plays at Gustavus and St. Mary's hosts St. Thomas.
