CARY, N.C. – Augustana University claimed a national title Saturday in the school’s first trip to the Division II Baseball Championship, edging Columbus State University, 3-2, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
The Vikings (52-9) marched to their first championship by going 4-0 in the tournament, which was co-hosted by the Town of Cary and the University of Mount Olive.
Senior pitcher Jacob Blank (9-0) tossed a complete-game four-hitter in the championship game. The senior from Gretna, Neb., took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and did not allow a hit in eight of the nine innings tossed.
Columbus State starter Perez Knowles (8-4) matched Blank with three scoreless innings to begin the game before the Vikings got on the board in the fourth.
Michael Svozil, who had three hits in the contest, led off the Augustana fourth with a single, moved to third on a one-out single by Jordan Barth, and scored on an RBI single to center by Ryan Nickel.
Barth moved to second base on the Nickel hit, then advanced to third on a throwing error after the CSU right fielder tried to double-up Nickel at first base following a line-drive out. Lucas Barry then delivered a perfect bunt down the third-base line for a single to plate Barth and give the Vikings a 2-0 advantage.
Austin Pharr broke up Blank’s no-hitter with a single to lead off the Columbus State fifth, and two batters later Robert Brooks drilled a two-run homer to left – his 11th of the season – to suddenly tie the game at 2-all.
However, the reprieve for the Cougars (48-15) did not last long. In the sixth, Knowles hit Lucas Wylie with a one-out pitch and issued a two-out walk to Ryan Menssen. JT Mix, the number nine hitter in the Augustana lineup, followed with an opposite-field single through the right side to drive in Wylie with the go-ahead run.
From there, the Vikings rode the arm of Blank, who retired 12 of the final 13 Cougars he faced. In a fitting conclusion to his afternoon, Blank closed out the championship by striking out the side in the Columbus State ninth. He used a back-door breaking ball to earn a called third strike for the final out, sending the Vikings into celebration mode.
Blank struck out 12 batters in the game, his only appearance in the finals.
Four different Cougars accounted for their four hits. Knowles scattered eight hits, walked three and struck out three in 5 2/3 innings of work from the mound.
In addition to the three hits from Svozil, Augustana received a pair of hits from Nickel.
Svozil, Mix and Barry were named to the all-tournament team for Augustana along with pitcher Tyler Mitzen, who went 2-0 in the finals and was named the tourney’s most valuable player.
Columbus State was represented on the squad by Brooks, Frank Wager and pitcher Kolton Ingram.
Columbus State
Head coach Greg Appleton
“I thought it was a great game there wasn't a lot of scoring but there were a lot of great plays, a heck of a lot of good pitches made.”
“I thought we gave as good of an effort as we could. We were running on fumes and a tremendous effort from our guys and I couldn't be more proud.”
(On two losses by one run) "Usually when we lose it's because we didn't hit and you have to give most of the credit to their pitcher because he made an adjustment midway through the game and mixed it up. They won the ball game I don't think we lost it so I don't feel bad about it.
Second Baseman Gunar Drinnen
(On giving up the early run) “We've been knocked down before and I had confidence in my team and we always come back swinging and i knew our offense was going to be able to get something started, but it just didn't happen today.”
(On what the team will look like next year) "The young guys are going to have another great year next year because of the expectations of this team."
Catcher Robert Brooks
(On only getting runs in the fifth inning) “He took a no-hitter into the fifth and we had Austin Pharr open it up for us with a nice base hit into right and I just came up there trying to find a way on and pass it on to the next guy."
"With a pitcher like that, he has been lights out this whole season, so we knew that coming in and we had to scrap away especially down two."
(On Feeling in the dugout once the game was tied) "Once we tied the game up we had confidence, up by two, down by five, up by five, we trust our offense, our bats, all nine guys we put in that lineup. We just knew we had a chance.”
Augustana
Head Coach Tim Huber
"Deep breath from me, its pretty cool, it is a testament to the guys up here the guys in the dugout and the guys back home that weren't able to be on the travel roster, just wow an unbelievable team effort top to bottom. Had some great individual performance over the week and it was someone else each game and that is what we are all about. They had great focus this week and found a way to get it done and wow National Champions."
Second Baseman J.T. Mix
(On the scoring the opportunity) "The biggest thing with us is that I have confidence in everyone on this roster that they can come in and get the job done and when they gave us two runners and two outs in knew I was going to have to capitalize on the opportunity."
Outfielder Michael Svozil
(On his performance on the week) "I can't fathom what is going on right now, it could have been anyone of these guys this week and it just happened to be me. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was anyone else on this team and im really happy to have so many of them coming back next year, it is exciting as a junior."
Starting Pitcher Jacob Blank
"I just tried to keep them off balance all day throwing a lot of offspeed for strikes, mixing in and out, speed them up and then slow them down, but that was a very good baseball team that we played so hats off to their season."
"I just tried to go out their and pitch and see what was working on any given day and today the breaking ball was working pretty good throwing them backdoor and their guys had trouble with them."
Tournament MVP Tyler Mitzel
(On being the five seed and whether it was motivation) "I think it's helped us, to have the caliber of team we do we should be the top seed in any tournament we enter. I think being the five seed helped ... we used it as fuel to the fire."