April 1, 2001
2001 BASEBALL REVIEW
2001 BASEBALL REVIEW
VIKINGS WIN 30 GAMES FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR; FINISH SEASON RANKED 29TH IN NCAA DIVISION III & FOURTH IN CENTRAL REGION
Prior to Greg Wallace taking over the
In his first year Wallace led his charges to a 22-16 record, the second highest victory total in school history. Then came uncharted territory as the Vikings ripped off two consecutive 30-victory seasons and two straight appearances in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament's championship game. The Blue & Gold was 31-13 in 1999 and had a school record 38-8 mark in 2000. With the loss of six position playing starters and the top four pitchers due to graduation, Wallace was not sure what to expect heading into the 2001 season.
What happened exceeded all expectations as the Vikings posted a 30-14 overall record for a third straight year over 30 victories. They also made it to the championship game of the CCIW Tournament for the third straight season. In conference play, Augustana was 13-8 during the regular season and finished second in the league with a total of 15 points.
The Vikings were 29th in the final NCAA Division III American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Poll. In the Central Region, Augustana was ranked fourth in the final ranking.
Senior outfielder Jason Pettit (J.D. Darnall HS,
Pettit batted .376 this past year with 56 hits in 149 at-bats with 34 runs scored with five doubles, two triples and three home runs. He had 35 runs-batted-in with 19 base-on-balls and eight stolen bases. For good measure, Pettit made two appearances as a pitcher and was 1-0 with a 4.91 earned run average with three strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
Green was 8-4 with a 3.29 earned run average in 93 innings of work. He appeared in 13 games, all as a starter, and he completed eight. He posted 42 strikeouts while walking just 16 batters.
Vroman patrolled centerfield for the Vikings, playing in 44 games with 43 starts. He had 115 putouts and five assists with just six errors for a .952 fielding percentage. Vroman also led the team in hitting with a .391 batting average with 54 hits in 138 at-bats with 36 runs scored and 27 RBI. He had eight doubles, two triples and two home runs with 11 base-on-balls and 11 stolen bases.
The Vikings were 28-9 heading into a crucial three game series with Illinois Wesleyan on the final weekend of the regular season. The Titans swept three games with the first two by scores of 2-1 and 3-1 and Wallace's team went into the CCIW tournament on a three game losing streak, the first time that happened all year.
In the first round of the CCIW tournament, which was held in
At one point during the year the Vikings won 16 of 20 games between March 24 and April 25. As a team Augustana hit .325 with 447 hits in 1,375 at-bats and nine players finished the year over .300. Ernie Jack (United Township HS, East Moline, IL) set a new Augustana school record with 10 home runs, breaking the old mark of nine set by Jason Fosdick in 2000.
The Vikings landed six players on the CCIW all-conference team with Jack, Pettit, Green and Kevin Iaquinto (Waubonsie Valley HS, Naperville, IL) making the first team and Mike Kane (Davenport Assumption HS, Davenport, IA) and Vroman were honored on the second team.
2001 AUGUSTANA BASEBALL AWARD WINNERS
OUTSTANDING PITCHER - Kevin Green
OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE PLAYER - Jason Pettit
OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER - Zach Vroman
2001 AUGUSTANA VIKING BASEBALL LETTERWINNERS
NAME POS B/T HT WT YR HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL)
Jim Baldwin* P L/L 6'3 200 Jr. Warrenville, IL (
Chris Beard* C/OF R/R 6'0 190 So.
Jason Brien* P R/R 6'4 235 So.
Wally Brownley** 3B/P R/R 6'0 180 Jr.
Troy
Blake Cherrington* SS R/R 6'2 165 Fr.
Jeff Dunn** P R/R 5'10 195 So.
Anson Ellis*** C/DH R/R 5'11 195 Jr.
Will Gray** C R/R 5'8 165 Sr.
Kevin Green* P R/R 6'1 185 Jr.
Ted Grothe** P R/R 6'0 180 So.
Joe Goolsby*** 1B L/L 6'0 175 Jr. Morris, IL (Morris)
Matt Hawkins** P R/R 6'1 185 So.
Mike Hoffman* OF R/R 6'1 200 Jr. McHenry, IL (Johnsburg)
Reggie Hughes* C/1B L/R 6'2 205 Jr.
Kevin Iaquinto*** SS R/R 5'10 185 Jr.
Ernie Jack* C/DH L/R 6'0 205 Fr.
Chris Nelson* 2B R/R 5'10 150 Fr.
Tony Nelson* 1B/DH R/R 6'2 195 Jr. Grayslake, IL (
Jason Pettit**** OF/P R/R 6'1 190 Sr. Geneseo, IL (Geneseo)
Spencer Sweet* P R/R 5'10 185 Jr.
Jeff Szczupaj* OF R/R 5'10 180 Jr.
Mike Ugel*** P R/R 6'1 195 Sr.
Zach Vroman*** OF R/R 5'8 150 Jr.
Brad Wendell** 2B R/R 5'10 185 So.
2001 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF
CCIW OVERALL
TEAMS W L T .PCT W L T .PCT POINTS
Augustana 13 8 0 .619 30 14 0 .682 15*
North Central 14 6 1 .690 21 21 1 .500 15*
Millikin 9 12 0 .429 20 18 0 .526
* - Augustana finishes second by virtue of better placing in the CCIW tournament.
2001 CCIW BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
May 11-13 **
GAME OPPONENTS DATE
Game #1 #1 seed (Illinois Wesleyan) vs. #4 seed (
Game #2 #2 seed (North Central) vs. #3 seed (Augustana) Friday, May 11 Lisle, IL (Benedictine) 11:00 am
North Central 7, Augustana 0
Game #3 Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner Friday, May 11
Game #4 Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser Friday, May 11 Lisle, IL (Benedictine) 3:00 p.m.
Augustana 7,
Game #4 started on Friday, May 11 in Lisle,
Game #5 Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser Saturday, May 12
Augustana 6, North Central 5
Game #6 Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner Saturday, May 12
The top four teams, by CCIW winning percentage, qualify for the CCIW baseball tournament. The four qualifying team receive one championship point for each regular season CCIW baseball victory and additional championship points based on the following tournament records: 3-0 = 5 points; 4-1 or 3-1 = 4 points; 3-2 = 3 points; 2-2 = 2 points; 1-2 = 1 point and 0-2 = 0 points. Teams that do not qualify for the tournament do not receive championship points for regular season victories. If a tie occurs in total points after the tournament, then the team that finished highest in the tournament will be the conference champion. The CCIW champion receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III baseball tournament.
