ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (18-21, 12-15 NSIC) saw the Augustana Vikings (30-15, 24-6 NSIC) complete the weekend sweep as CSP dropped both contests on Sunday afternoon at Barnes Field. The Vikings took game one 16-7 and game two 10-2.
 
GAME ONE: Augustana 16, Concordia-St. Paul 7
Both teams came out swinging as each team scored at least a run in each of the first three innings. While both teams put runs on the board early, the Vikings put CSP in a deep hole with six in the fourth and four in the second to jump out to a 10-1 lead before holding off the Golden Bears to claim the win.
 
Augustana took advantage of the long ball again in game three of the series as four of their 12 hits landed over the fence, including two more from Kris Ashland, en route to scoring 16 runs. Both Ashland and Patrick O'Donnell each collected three hits as they combined to score seven times and drive in six. Along with O'Donnell, Riley Johnson also reached safely in all five trips to the plate.
 
Concordia managed 10 hits of their own in the loss as Carter Schmidt sent the team's lone home run in the game off the Gangelhoff Center in left center field while he also drew a walk. Mickey Leius picked up a team-best three hits while Roch Whittaker chipped in two more.
 
Lincoln Voss got the start for Augie and received some massive run support but lasted just 3.1 innings to fall short of qualifying for the win. Dalton Allen (4-1) came on to work the next 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and two runs (one earned) to pick up the win in relief. Derek Dahlke closed out the game with a perfect seventh for the Vikings.
 
Keanu Mendez (1-5) lasted just an inning in the start for the Golden Bears as he ended up taking the loss. The highlight for the CSP pitching staff came in the form of 3.0 solid innings out of the bullpen from Louie Varland as the freshman allowed just one hit and an unearned run to lower his ERA to 2.61 on the year.
 
As was the case in both games on Saturday the Vikings jumped ahead early as they ambushed CSP with a six spot in the first. Four of the first five hitters collected before a two-out walk set up a Lucas Barry three-run home run just over the wall in right doubled the run total in the inning to bring it to six.
 
After the Golden Bears capitalized on a pair of errors in the bottom of the inning to get a run back, Augustana broke it open with four more in the top of the second. Augie picked up two more homers in the inning as Sam Baier and Ashland each delivered two-run shots.
 
The runs kept coming in the bottom of the second as CSP cut into the lead with three runs to make it 10-4 through two. Zach Elder delivered an RBI double into the left field corner before Connor Olson deposited a two-run single into the gap in left center.
 
The two teams traded runs in the third, with CSP's coming on a run-scoring single from Leius, before things finally settled down with back-to-back scoreless innings in the fourth and the fifth.
 
Augustana netted their only run against Varland on a Golden Bear miscue in the sixth as a dropped fly ball in shallow left field allowed O'Donnell to score their 12^th run of the game.
 
CSP temporarily made things interesting as Carter Schmidt got all of a one-out offering from Allen and sent it off the Gangelhoff Center wall in left center to cut it to 12-7, but the Vikings put it away with four runs in the seventh.
 
The big drive in the top of the seventh came off the bat of Ashland as he launched another homer, his second of the game and fourth of the series, onto the grass just past the right center field fence.
 
The Golden Bears were retired in order in the seventh to finish things off.
 
GAME TWO: Augustana 10, Concordia-St. Paul 2
Game four was shaping up to be a low-scoring affair until Augustana scored a pair of runs in the sixth and five more in the ninth to pull away with a 10-2 win in the series finale.
 
The late surge for the Vikings led to Augie collecting at least 12 hits for the fourth game in a row as they grabbed 14 in the contest. Sam Baier took his turn leading the way with four hits while Ford Schroeder delivered the game's only home run.
 
The Golden Bears finished with double digit hits for the third game in a row, but had very little to show for it as they collected just a run in the first and another in the ninth in the loss.
 
Patrick Bordewick finished off a nice offensive series with a pair of solid singles and a walk as he picked up six hits in 13 at-bats, including his first career home run on Saturday, while also drawing two walks. He was matched by Carter Schmidt's two-hit game as the sophomore catcher extended his hitting streak to four.
 
Isaac Hormann finished with one hit in the game, but that one hit was a big one as he launched a solo homer to give him two on the season. He and Jake Steckler, who doubled in the ninth, scored the team's two runs.
 
Connor Hurley (2-2) took the loss but gave CSP some valuable innings to help preserve a taxed bullpen. The freshman gave up five runs (three earned) on seven hits while walking two and striking out five in 5.1 innings of work. Shane Benson followed with another strong outing as he limited the high-powered Augie offense to just a hit and a walk in 2.2 innings to go along with three strikeouts.
 
Tyler Vaughn (4-1) shut out the Golden Bears for 5.0 innings after the leadoff homer for Hormann as he scattered seven hits and struck out seven to pick up the win. Left-hander Jasper Elfrink picked up the unconventional save as he worked the final 4.0 innings, allowing one run and striking out three, to close out the game.
 
For the fourth game in a row the Vikings struck first and for the third game of four in the series they did so in the first inning. Augie greeted Hurley with a leadoff walk to Riley Johnson before Sam Baier followed with a double down the left field line. Hurley followed with a strikeout before a passed ball and an ensuing overthrow back to the plate allowed both runners to cross the plate on the same pitch.
 
CSP wasted little time cutting into the Augie lead as Hormann sent the third pitch of the game from Vaughn over the left center wall to cut it to 2-1.
 
Both pitchers really settled into a groove from there as the lone run for either team over the next four innings came on a solo home run off the bat of Ford Schroeder in the top of the fourth to make it 3-1.
 
The Vikings put up the first real threat since the opening frame in the sixth with leadoff triple from O'Donnell followed by an Ashland RBI single and a Barry RBI double one batter later. After a stolen base and a hit by pitch, Benson entered the game with runners on the corners and one out. The right-hander worked out of trouble with a strikeout and a groundout to hold it at 5-1.
 
Benson held it there until the ninth when the first five batters of the inning reached base against Jake Kounkel. All five came around to score as the Vikings slugged six hits in the inning to build a 10-1 advantage.
 
Jake Steckler nearly single-handedly gave CSP their second run of the game in their half of the ninth as he doubled down the right field line before moving up to third and scoring on a pair of wild pitches, but that would be all as Elfrink finished off the sweep.
 
The Golden Bears are set for six more home games this week as they host Wayne State on Wednesday and Sioux Falls on Saturday and Sunday.