The NCAA Central Regional Baseball Tournament begins Thursday in Warrensburg, Missouri with the #11 Augustana University Vikings sitting in the #5-seed.

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In the opening bracket, the Vikings will take on No. 4 seeded Minnesota State at 2:00 PM.

Augustana completed the 2022 season as the NSIC regular-season champions and went 3-2 overall at the NSIC tournament, falling to Minnesota State in the championship game. The Vikings are 44-10-1 overall.

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Tanner Brown holds an 8-1 record on the mound and is tied for career pitching wins at Augustana with 24. Brown, also the career strikeout leader for the Vikings, has struck out 102 batters this season and was named the 2022 NSIC Pitcher of the Year with an ERA of 1.47. That ERA ranks him third in all of NCAA Division II.

Ryan Jares holds a record of 7-2, an ERA of 1.96, and has recorded 101 strikeouts this season. Jares was named to the NSIC All-tournament team after striking out 13 batters against Minnesota State in the Viking’s third game of the tournament. Jares is the nation’s leader in WHIP as he gives up less than a walk or hit per inning pitched.

Carter Howell leads Augustana with a .398 batting average and 63 RBI and has started all 55 games for the Vikings. Jordan Barth is the team leader with 16 doubles, and 83 hits and has a .382 batting average. Barth also broke his second and third program records during the NSIC tournament, becoming the career leader in both hits and RBI. Will Olson follows closely behind Howell with 68 hits and a batting average of .389.

Augustana also broke the program record for team home runs in a single season with the 74th against Winona State.

A Viking win on Thursday will place them against the winner of Central Missouri and Ouachita Baptist on Friday at 6:00 PM. A loss would force AU to play the loser of that contest at 2:00 PM. Friday.

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