MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State earned a big sweep of Augustana College on Monday afternoon helping in its quest to qualify for the six-team NSIC tournament.  SMSU (22-14, 18-8 NSIC) defeated Augie (28-22, 15-11 NSIC) 12-2 in seven innings in Game 1 and completed the sweep with a 4-3 victory in the nightcap.  The two victories, along with two losses by Wayne State, move the Mustangs into fourth place in the conference standings.

It was also a record-setting day for SMSU senior right-hander Adam Schrader, who became the school's all-time strikeout leader.  Schrader tied the record held by Chris Pack (1995-98) at 224 with a strikeout in the first inning, then set the record in the fourth inning when he struck out Augie's Charlie Dubanoski on a 2-2 pitch.

Schrader finished tossing a complete game seven-hitter recording six strikeouts, while allowing two runs on seven hits as he moved to 4-3 on the season.

Chris Eichten led SMSU in Game 1 finishing 3-for-4 and tying a career-high with four RBI, while Cody Curry and Andrew Kinney each added two hits and one RBI.

SMSU plated across five runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early commanding lead.   Derick Swenson scored the game's first run on a bases loaded wild pitch.  Following a strikeout, Adam Thygesen smacked a two-run double and was followed by a two-run single by Eichten to extend the lead to 5-0.

The Mustangs added to the led in the second pushing across five more runs on six hits.  Kinney knocked home the first run with an RBI single, while Tyler Fayden made it 7-0 with a run-scoring fielder's choice.  Eichten made it 9-0 with a two-run single, before Tyler Jendro added another RBI single to make the score 10-0.

Augie scored two runs in the top of the seventh, but SMSU answered with two runs of its own to end the game early via 10-run rule.  Andy Williamson scored the inning's first run with a single, while Curry ended the game with a line drive single to left field.

In Game 2, Jendro snapped a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning smacking a 1-2 pitch into the right-center field gap to score Josh Wendland.

Nate Dickhausen pitched a perfect final innings, retiring all six batters he faced, including three strikeouts, to earn his first win of the season.

SMSU earned a solid start from Alex Alvarez, who pitched 4.1 innings, allowing three unearned runs on six hits, while recording two strikeouts and walking one.

The Mustangs had just seven hits in the game with Bauer finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI, including belting a big two-run homer.

Augie scored an unearned run in the first inning to take an early lead and held that advantage until the third inning.  SMSU's Bobby Zellman slapped a two-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Swenson then tied the game as he drilled a single down the right field line to tie the game.

SMSU took its first lead of the game in the fourth inning as Kinney led off with a walk, the only bases on balls issued by Augie starter Grant Larson.  Bauer then stepped up and smashed an 0-2 pitch over the right field wall to give the Mustangs a 3-1 lead.

The Vikings answered right back in the top of the fifth inning taking advantage of an SMSU error to score two unearned runs and tie the game at 3-3.

SMSU was retired quickly in order in the bottom of the fifth, but Dickhausen came on in relief and tossed seven pitches to retire the Vikings in order in the sixth inning.

In the decisive bottom of the sixth inning, Bauer led the inning off with a single, but was retired at second base on a failed sac bunt by Wendland.  A ground out by Thygesen moved Wendland to second base setting up Jendro, who snapped the tie with his go-ahead double.

Southwest Minnesota State will continue conference play on Wednesday afternoon with another big doubleheader at Winona State starting at 2 p.m.