MINNEAPOLIS – Playing on its home field at Parade Stadium for the first time this season, the Augsburg University baseball team used a late rally in game two to salvage a split with the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference-leading Gustavus Adolphus College Gusties on Wednesday afternoon.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Gustavus 9, Augsburg 5; Augsburg 9, Gustavus 7
LOCATION: Parade Stadium, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 4-12 overall (1-3 MIAC), Gustavus 13-9 overall (7-1 MIAC)

GAME ONE RECAP
• After the Gusties struck the first blow with a run in the top of the first, Connor Stoik (SR, Eau Claire, Wis./Eau Claire Memorial HS) gave the Auggies their first lead of the game at 2-1 with a two-run home run that scored Michael Weiss (SR, Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar HS) in the bottom of the first.
• Gustavus would counter in the second inning with a three-run homer to regain the lead at 4-2.
• Brandon Lockhart (SO, Oakdale, Minn./Tartan HS) pulled the Auggies within one with a single through the left side that scored Adam Marshall (SO, Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) in the bottom of the second, and Weiss gave the Auggies back the advantage with a double to right center that scored both Lance Nayman (Jr, St. Paul, Minn./Central HS) and Lockhart in the same inning.
• The Gusties would go on to score five unanswered, one in the third, two each in the fifth and sixth, to take game one 9-5.
• Weiss and Stoik were 1-for-3 and 1-for-4, respectively with two RBI each while Lockhart was 2-for-2 with a run batted in.
• Jake Skogrand (SO, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) started the game on the mound for Augsburg, allowing seven hits and seven runs with two strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work. Jacob Henry (FY, Stacy, Minn./Forest Lake HS) pitched 1.1 innings of relief, striking out two while allowing two hits and two runs. Kell Piggott (FY, Superior, Wis./Superior HS) finished the game, fanning three with no hits allowed in a scoreless inning of work.

GAME TWO RECAP
• The Gusties jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with three runs each in the first and third innings before Augsburg got on the board with a single from Marshall that scored Steven Salz (SR, Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS) in the bottom of the fourth. Gustavus added one more run in the top of the fifth to take a commanding 7-1 lead.
• The Auggie rally started in the fifth when Weiss hit a double to left center to score Skogrand, cutting the deficit to five. Shortly after, Stoik came through for Augsburg once again with a triple to deep center field that scored both Weiss and Clint Mattson (SR, North Branch, Minn./North Branch HS), pulling the Auggies within three. Marshall added one more run for the Auggies later in the inning, singling through the left side to score Stoik and make it a 7-5 game. 
• Still trailing by two in the sixth, Augsburg faced a tough situation with the bases loaded and just one out. Auggie pitcher Nick Allbee (FY, Savage, Minn./Prior Lake HS) proved he could handle the pressure, however, pitching himself out of the jam with two-straight strikeouts to keep the Auggies in striking distance. In the bottom half of the inning, Weiss provided another spark with an RBI single that scored Mattson and pulled the Auggies within one run.
• Coming in to pitch in the top of the seventh, Manny Weiss (FY, Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar HS) came up huge and retired six-consecutive Gusties, including three strikeouts, to keep the deficit at just one run through seven-and-a-half innings of play.
• Stoik played the hero for Augsburg in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a three-run, inside-the-park home run to left field to put Augsburg on top 9-7, a score that would hold for the remainder of the game. With that hit, Stoik finished his day 3-for-9 with seven runs batted in, a triple, and two home runs.
• Weiss went 3-for-4 with two RBI in game two while Mattson, Marshall, Carson Tomony (SR, Madison, Wis./Madison East HS), and Lockhart each went 2-for-4 at the plate.
• Luke Johnson (SR, Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) started the game on the mound, allowing five hits and six runs with a strikeout in 2.1 innings. Allbee pitched the following 3.2 innings, giving up five hits and just one run with four strikeouts. Weiss picked up the win, his second of the season, with 2.2 scoreless and hitless innings of work, fanning four Gusties along the way. Coming into the game with the go-ahead run at the plate in the top of the ninth, Vinny Rupp (FY, Salt Lake City, Utah/Skyline HS) recorded the final out for Augsburg, earning his first career save in the process.

FOR THE FOES
• Drake Siens went 4-for-9 at the plate through both games for Gustavus, batting in three runs.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will travel to Duluth, Minn. to take on the College of St. Scholastica in a MIAC twin bill on Saturday (4/15) starting at 1 p.m.