PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Northwest Missouri State University baseball team saw the Augustana Vikings rally for three runs in the eighth and four in the 10th as the Bearcats dropped a 12-10 extra-inning affair in the NCAA Central Region contest at Al Ortolani Field.
Northwest will take on Arkansas Tech in an elimination game Friday at 3 p.m.
Augie touched up Bearcat starter Ben Haug for three hits and two runs in the first inning. Troy Berg’s two-run, two-out triple to right-center gave the Vikings a 2-0 advantage.
Northwest answered with a two-out rally of its own in the bottom half of the first. Jordi Ventura jump-started the offense with a ground-rule double to right-center. Wilmer Jimenez rocketed a single to left to put runners on the corners. Designated hitter John Connors fought back from an 0-2 count and delivered a wind-aided drive to the left field wall that gave him a double and two RBI to tie the game at 2-2.
Haug skirted some potential trouble in the top of the second as the first two Augie batters reached on a single and a walk. Maddox Foss flew out to Ventura in right and he doubled off Bjorn Lind at first base for a double play. Haug got a flyout to end the second with the score tied at 2-2.
The first five Bearcat batters reached in the bottom of the second against the Northern Sun’s Pitcher of the Year Gomez. Chester Brooks came through with an RBI-single to left to plate Parker Griffith, who had reached on an infield single to third. Jeremiah Cabuyaban drew a bases loaded walk to up the lead to 4-2 with no outs. Jimenez posted a sacrifice fly to right to score Brooks for a 5-2 advantage.
Augie’s Kobe Eikmeier drilled a two-out, three-run homer to level the score at 5-5 in the top of the third. Haug retired the first two batters in the third on flyouts to Brooks in left. Haug walked a pair of runners with two outs before Eikmeier’s blast to left.
Northwest retook the lead in the bottom of the third on Cabuyaban’s second bases loaded walk. Griffith laced his second single of the game and worked his way around the base paths for his second run of the contest to give Northwest a 6-5 advantage.
Griffith drove an RBI-single up the middle for his third hit of the game to boost the Bearcats to a 7-5 lead. Griffith’s hit plated Jimenez for his second run of the contest in the fourth inning.
Haug retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings to keep the Bearcats on top, 7-5. Brooks made a sensational catch of a Ragan Pinnow drive to left sprawled out on the warning track to end the fifth inning.
Haug kept it in cruise control in the sixth and seventh as he extended his streak of retired batters to 13 in a row. Haug had five strikeouts through seven innings.
Augie centerfielder Nate Soelter ended Haug’s streak of 13 batters retired in a row with a leadoff double in the eighth. Soelter moved to third on a groundout to second and then scored on a groundout to third to pull Augie to within a run at 7-6. Haug exited with two outs in the eighth and runners on first and second. Head coach Tony Jandron turned to closer Brock Steggall to protect the one-run lead.
Augie’s Jake Lundquist greeted Steggall with a two-out, two-strike, two-run double to the wall in left-center. Lundquist’s hit gave Augie an 8-7 lead in the eighth.
Ventura crushed a ground-rule double to left-center with two outs to keep the inning alive. Jimenez hit a hot shot to shortstop that Augie’s Eikmeier bounced a throw to first baseman Ragan Pinnow. Pinnow could not handle the throw allowing Jimenez to reach and Ventura to race home from second and draw the Bearcats even at 8-8.
Steggall worked around a one-out single in the ninth to get the Bearcats a chance to walk it off in the bottom half.
Michael Good drilled a single back up the middle to open the ninth. Griffith dropped down a sacrifice bunt on the first base side to move Good up to second. Leo May was retired on a flyout to left for the second out. Brooks grounded out to third to force the game into extra innings.
Steggall walked the first two batters in the top of the 10th and was relieved by Landon Wells. Wells got Eikmeier to bounce out on a fielder’s choice at third. However, Lundquist came through again with a two-round ground-rule double to center that gave Augie a 10-8 lead with one out in the 10th. Jandron turned to Diego De Santiago with one out and runners on first and second. De Santiago got an out but allowed a two-out, two-run bloop single to right-center by Brandon Weigel to push the Augie lead to 12-8.
In the bottom of the 10th, Cabuyaban reached on an error by Augie third baseman Troy Berg. Jimenez connected on a two-out, two-run homer to left field to slice the Augie lead to 12-10. Sam Wornson came through with a pinch-hit single up the middle to bring Michael Good to the plate as the potential tying run. Good was retired on a fly out to center for the game’s final out.
Haug threw 121 pitches in 7 2/3 innings pitched. He allowed eight runs on seven hits and struck out seven Viking batters.
Steggall was tagged with the loss to fall to 4-1 on the season.
NOTES: Parker Griffith posted his first career four-hit game … Griffith notched his second three-hit game of the season and fourth of his career … Frank Gall tied the single-season hits record with his 81st hit of the season with a bunt single in the second inning … Gall tied the mark set by Ryan Bledsoe in 2008.
