Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

OMAHA, Neb. – The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team opened the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season on Sunday afternoon suffering a pair of tough losses to Augustana University at Creighton Prep. AU won the opener 2-1 in 10 innings and used a three-run fifth inning to pull away and earn an 8-4 victory in game two. Today's games were relocated due to poor field conditions in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
The two teams conclude the three-game series on Monday with an 11 a.m. nine-inning game at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
 
SMSU drops to 8-4 overall, 0-2, NSIC, while AU improves to 13-9 overall and 2-0 in league play.
 
In game one, the Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the home half of the first on a two-out home run by Ragan Pinnow.
 
AU starting pitcher Caleb Saari was dominate early retiring the first 12 batters he faced, but the streak would come to an end in the fifth as Isaac Nett smacked an opposite-field home run to left field to tie the game at 1-1. Keenan Wenzel would later hit a two-out single and steal second, but was left in scoring position following a strikeout.
 
SMSU had plenty of chances to take the lead later in the game including a great chance in the sixth. Jake Tauer started the frame with a double and with no outs moved to third on a balk. The Mustangs failed to score as a foul pop out and back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning to keep the game deadlock.
 
In the seventh, SMSU's Owen Latendresse reached via a one-out infield single and promptly stole second. Following a walk to Max Kalenberg, the inning would come to a close following a 6-4-3 double play.
 
In the ninth, the Mustangs' Chase McDaniel started the inning reaching on a fielding error and moved to second with one out on a wild pitch. A ground out advanced him to third, but the inning ended on a fly out to right field.
 
SMSU pitching was outstanding from the middle innings to the 10^th inning. Mustang starter Ryan Chmielewski fired the first six innings and allowed one run on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts. Brady Brosz was dominate in the relief as he tied a career-high tossing three innings, while retiring all nine batters he faced with a career-high five strikeouts.
 
Chmielewski retired the last six batters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings with Brosz tossing three perfect innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth.  
 
In the 10^th, the Mustangs' Brady Petron retired the first two batters he faced, but the Vikings used a two-out walk, followed by a two-base wild pitch to put the winning run at third base. Moments later, AU's Spencer Marenco bunted a 1-0 pitch back to Petron, who elected to toss to home, but the throw was late allowing the winning run to score.
 
SMSU finished game one with four hits, while AU was held to three.
 
In game two, AU jumped on the board in the first with a two-double followed by back-to-back singles to build a 2-0 advantage. The lead would move to 3-0 in the second on a solo home run, while in the third the Vikings pushed across two more runs off of SMSU starter Ansen Dulas to extend the margin to 5-0.
 
Facing the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year in AU's Ryan Jares, SMSU put together a big rally in the fourth to keep the game close and pull to within a run. Robbie Smith started the inning with a lead-off hit by pitch and moved to second on a single by McDaniel. Jaxon Haase brought home the first run with an RBI single, while Latendresse hit a run-scoring single to plate the second run of the inning. With two outs, Peyton Nash came through with a big two-run single to cut the deficit to 5-4.
 
SMSU relief pitcher Hayden Molva would toss a shutout frame in the bottom of the inning to keep SMSU within a run headed to the fifth. SMSU would threaten in the fifth with a lead-off double by Matt Seykora, but a strikeout, fly out and ground out kept the Mustangs scoreless.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, AU took advantage of two walks, a bunt single and a hit by pitch to score one run. Cameron Jensen relieved Molva with the bases loaded before Sam Siegel hit a two-run single to make the score 8-4. Jensen would work out of the jam in the fifth and tossed a scoreless sixth to keep the game 8-4, but SMSU would be retired in order in both the sixth and seventh innings as the Vikings earned their fifth straight win over the Mustangs in the last two seasons.
 
SMSU closed with six hits in the nightcap with McDaniel finishing 2 for 3 with a run scored.
 
Dulas (1-1) pitched three innings and allowed five runs on seven hits with one walk.