ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst University baseball team closed out its 2021 regular season by dropping both ends of a doubleheader to 24th-ranked Augustana College. Elmhurst dropped the opening game 12-5 before falling 7-3 in game two.
 
AUGUSTANA 12, ELMHURST 5 (Game One) – Augustana scored six runs in the opening inning and never looked back, taking game one by a 12-5 final score.
 
The Vikings raced out a quick start, sending 10 batters to the plate in the opening inning. Michael Gattuso cracked a solo homer to lead off the contest and Mitchell Owens smacked a two-run shot two batters later. The Vikings scored six in the inning and added two runs in the second on another two-run homer from Owens. Augustana plated three runs in the fourth, keyed by a two-run homer from Brett Benedetti, to open up an 11-0 cushion.
 
Elmhurst ended the shutout with four runs in the sixth inning. Trey Romay doubled home a run to start the scoring and Lorenzo Farino followed with an RBI single. Jonathan Mays delivered a two-out, two-run, pinch-hit single to make the score 11-4.
 
Augustana scored a run in the seventh to move up 12-4 but the Bluejays cashed in on an Augustana error in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a run on a Romay sacrifice fly, making the final score 12-5.
 
Carter Truong and Lorenzo Farino finished with hits apiece to lead the Bluejays at the plate. Romay and Mays drove in two runs each.
 
Jaysn Miller made the start and took the loss. He worked three innings, allowing six hits and six earned runs. He walked four and struck out five.
 
AUGUSTANA 7, ELMHURST 3 (Game Two) – Harrison Boushele struck out 11 in seven innings to lift Augustana to the doubleheader sweep with a 6-1 victory in game two.
 
Augustana broke a scoreless game in the top of the third when Owens belted his third homer of the day, a two-run shot, to put the Vikings up 2-0.
 
Augustana tacked on a run in the fifth on an RBI single from Owens, extending its lead to 3-0 in the process.
 
 Elmhurst struggled to get going offensively until the seventh inning. Romay led off the inning with a double and took third on a fly out from Farino. An RBI groundout from Troy Taller drove in Romay and put the Bluejays on the scoreboard.
 
Augustana tacked on three runs in the eighth to move in front 6-1. Benedetti doubled in a run with two outs and Alec McGinnis added a two-out, two-run single for Augustana. A Michel Gattuso home run in the ninth gave the Vikings a 7-1 lead. Trey Romay cracked a solo homer and Zachary Mietzner added an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth to make the final score 7-3.
 
Boushele picked up the win for Augustana, working seven innings and allowing just two hits and one run. He walked one and struck out 11.  Joseph Kalish took the loss for Elmhurst despite allowing just three runs and six hits in 4.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out four.

Elmhurst will be the #7 seed in next week's CCIW Tournament. The Bluejays will face #2 seed Augustana on Wednesday, May 19, at Wheaton College.