MOLINE, Ill. – The No. 1 seeded Augustana baseball team completed their title quest with a 6-5 winner-take-all victory over the No. 5 seeded Illinois Wesleyan Titans on Saturday, securing their second CCIW Tournament championship in as many years. The Vikings earn the automatic qualifying berth to the NCAA DIII National Tournament set to begin at the regional level next week.

Game One

Entering Saturday needing to win twice, The Titans established a 2-0 lead in the opening inning of game one, which they held through six innings while holding the Vikings to just two hits through that span. After allowing two runs in the first, starter Josh Wintroub tossed five scoreless innings, including consecutive frames in the third and fourth with three-up, three-down efforts.

Illinois Wesleyan added another score in the seventh to push their lead to three, following it up with another scoreless inning after Augie loaded the bases. The Vikings' offense struggled to plate runs in the contest, leaving 13 runners on base from the third inning through the game's conclusion. Brett Benedetti singled to plate Augie's lone run in the eighth, but the Vikings fell 3-1 to move to a winner-take-all championship bout.

Augie recorded seven hits in the final three innings to finish with nine. Zachary Vrbancic led the way with two, while seven other Vikings tallied one.

Game Two

Illinois Wesleyan jumped to an early advantage for the second straight game, mashing an RBI single in the top of the first to go up by one. Augie waited an inning to reply, but with two runners on, Alec McGinnis lined a run-scoring single up the middle to level the score at one run apiece. In the next at-bat, Michael Aragon laid a bunt towards the mound, but a Titans throwing error allowed McGinnis and Chase Maifield to bolt home to give Augie a two-run lead. Illinois Wesleyan crept back into the contest, tying the game with an RBI double in the fifth and retaking the lead at 4-3 in the sixth.

A silent top of the seventh from the Titans prompted the Augie bats to tie the game for a third time in the bottom of the inning. Alex Simon led off with a single to left center before scoring the following at-bat on a Titans throwing error. Illinois Wesleyan surged back with a score in the eighth to put pressure on the top-seeded Vikings as the ninth inning approached.

Addison Southwick entered in the ninth inning and quickly dispatched the Titans lineup with a 1-2-3 side. Matt Ozanic helped breathe life into the Vikings' offense with a leadoff triple to left center to bring the tying run 90 feet away from home plate. Two plate appearances later, he raced home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Dymitri Kanellakis to deadlock the game and send it into extras.

Another three-up, three-down inning from the right arm of Southwick put Augie at the plate for the final time. With one out on the board, back-to-back singles from Vrbancic and Trevor Moore put two runners on for the Vikings. Soon after, Ozanic proved unfazed by the two-out pressure, tearing a walk-off single through the right side of the infield as Vrbancic won the footrace home to secure Augustana's second consecutive tournament title.

Southwick earned his fifth win of the season, finishing the game for Augie by tossing two complete innings with one strikeout and zero runs allowed. Jacob Reusch led the Vikings' staff in innings pitched with four, surrendering just two runs while claiming a strikeout. Five different Vikings claimed multi-hit efforts, totaling 12 as a team.

With the victory, Augustana collects their 38th win of the season, tying the 2000 team for most in a season. The Vikings will now await their matchup and destination in the upcoming NCAA DIII Regionals set to begin next Friday. The selection show is slated for 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 15.