Baseball makes, breaks records
Augustana baseball’s 2024 season has featured broken records, national rankings and multiple athlete and pitcher of the week titles. Now, the Vikings are hoping to make another appearance in the college world series this June.
One of the Vikings’ key successes this season includes clinching their most consecutive wins in program history. Augustana (38-8, 29-6 NSIC) secured its 18th consecutive win on April 24 against Southwest Minnesota State University, advancing beyond the former record of 15.
“Team chemistry plays a major factor, as we returned 99% of our starting lineup,” fifth-year catcher Drey Dirksen said. “Having that many guys come back from a team that went that far into the baseball season isn’t something you see very often. We are a very close team and know how to have fun but also stay focused when we need to.”
The Vikings’ win streak began on April 3 against Southwest Minnesota State, defeating the Mustangs 13-6, and came to a close on April 27 with losses against Minnesota State University-Mankato 7-2 and 14-5. But the Vikings didn’t stay down long, coming back on April 28 to earn a 3-0 win over the Mavericks.
“Mankato has historically been our biggest rival, with the two of us usually being the top two teams in the conference,” sophomore Parker Mooney said. “The series is always big with high energy and emotions, but we also have so much respect for Mankato’s program.”
The Vikings’ all-time record against Mankato is 31-77. In 2022, the Vikings faced the Mavericks in the NSIC tournament twice and lost 5-4 and 6-5 but beat them in the NCAA Central Regional 10-9. Last season, the Vikings defeated Mankato in the NCAA Super Regional to advance to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.
Dirksen made program history midway through the regular season, earning his 50th career home run against Winona State University on April 13.
After entering the 2024 season with 36 home runs, Dirksen beat 2011 graduate Nate Baumann’s previous record, of 49 career home runs.
“I think what meant the most about this achievement was having my family there to watch me break the record,” Dirksen said. “I guess the feeling was just a weight taken off my shoulders.”
Dirksen hit at least one home run for each series the Vikings played until March 13. When the Vikings faced the University of Mary on April 5-6, Dirksen’s bat lit up, and he earned four home runs during the team’s sweep over Mary. He then averaged three home runs per series before walking up to the plate at Loughrey Field in Winona.
“I think we had a pretty good idea this year that [Dirksen] was going to get to that number at some point,” head coach Tim Huber said.
Huber said he has enjoyed watching Dirksen’s journey with the Vikings progress over five seasons.
“From a recruiting standpoint in his freshman year, his swing mechanics needed a lot of work, and he’d probably be the first one to admit that,” Huber said. “He put a lot of time and effort into fixing the swing and to see it kind of getting to the point now, where he’s the all-time home run leader in our program, it’s a testament to him.”
Dirksen isn’t the only batter to achieve new program records this season.
Senior infielder Jack Hines broke the Augustana record for the most home runs in a single season, hitting his 18th on April 24 against Southwest Minnesota State. He also now holds the record for the most career triples, at 13 after notching five this season.
Two days before the Vikings swept the Mustangs, Hines was announced to be the only player nationally ranked in the top 10 across batting averages, home runs per game, total home runs, RBI, RBI per game, runs per game, slugging percentage and total bases.
As of May 1, Hines has kept his place in the top 10 in each of those categories, aside from batting average, for which he is now ranked 21st with .427, and runs per game, for which he is now ranked 12th at 1.41.
“[Hines] is more comfortable, he is more open and having conversations way easier, so I think as soon as that starts to happen, it makes everything easier on the field too,” Huber said. “He’s always building a lot and putting a lot of work in. That’s definitely who he is. He just always had the talent and skills.”
With the regular season now coming to a close, the Vikings are hoping to find additional success in the conference and regional tournaments. As of May 1, the team was ranked 12th nationally and third in the central region behind Central Missouri and Missouri Southern.
“As a team, we all have high expectations as far as the level of effort we put in,” Mooney said. “Baseball is such a weird sport with many uncontrollable aspects during the game. We always say to ‘control the controllables’ and to give your full effort. Motivation and excitement bounces off of one another, and through that, we are able to keep the energy high.”
The Vikings will return to the field on May 3 for a double header against Minot State University at Ronken Field.
“Our goal is to win every game we play and with the regular season winding down, we want to continue and carry the momentum that we have created into the postseason to allow us to make another run to the Division II World Series,” Dirksen said.
