Augie survives Round 1 scare
Don Hansen was 0-for-4.
A lineout, a flyout, a groundout and a strikeout.
Oh-fer. Nada. Zilch.
But when the Augustana Vikings needed a hit in the worst way with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s NCAA Regional opener against Wartburg, the junior right-fielder delivered.
Hansen’s walk-off single to the right side of the infield scored Aaron Hopson from third and completed the Vikings’ rally in a 6-5 win at Swanson Stadium.
“It was redemption,” Hansen said. “I had to go out there and do it that time. I was glad to be out there. I was 0-for-4. It was my chance to help the team and do my part for the day.”
The No. 3-seeded Vikings (33-11) advance to play second-seeded Wisconsin-Stevens Point (29-14) at
7 p.m. today. The Pointers beat Linfield 2-1 in 10 innings earlier Wednesday, while Webster knocked off top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan 7-0 in the other game of the six-team bracket.
“In these six-team tournaments, Game 1 is big to get in the winner’s bracket,” Augie coach Greg Wallace said. “A win is a win. At this point, we’ll take them all.”
Hopson, a sophomore designated hitter, was 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored.
After the Vikings fought back from a 5-3 deficit with runs in the seventh and eighth innings, Hopson led off the ninth with a four-pitch walk. Marc Blakely bunted him to second, and the Knights (26-14) set up to intentionally walk Mark Ramos. But Wartburg pitcher Jerrold Martijn threw the third ball wild, and Hopson took third base, setting him up to score on Hansen’s infield single.
“I think we were pretty lucky,” Wallace said. “… I felt as long as we could stay close, we’d have a chance at the end.”
Ramos, a junior shortstop out of United Township, went 2-for-4. Junior third baseman John Wagle, a Rock Island grad, was 1-for-3 with two runs scored, sending a solo home run over the right-field fence to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning and pull the Vikings within at run at 4-3. The homer was Wagle’s 11th of the year, a new Augustana single-season record.
Vikings starter Mike Pagano lasted only three innings, surrendering four runs on six hits. He was hit hard in the shin by a line drive in the top of the third, an inning in which the Knights scored three runs to take a 4-2 lead. Wallace said the injury will not cause Pagano to miss any action the rest of the week.
Senior Eric Knott provided some solid relief, allowing one unearned run in five innings to set up Vince Frede to pitch the ninth and earn the win.
Each team worked the bases loaded in their respective halves of the seventh, but only a single run was scored by Augie catcher John Vezzetti to pull the Vikings within 5-4. And then sophomore Eric Izzo singled to lead off the eighth and later scored the tying run to set up the decisive ninth.
It was far from the Vikings’ best effort of the season — four fielding errors that led to two unearned runs — but, as Wallace said, it was a win in the all-important Regional opener.
“We’ve got to put it behind us and move forward,” Hansen said. “We’ve got Wisconsin-Stevens Point. It’s another big one.”
Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.