#4 St. Cloud State (21-3, 9-1 NSIC) meets reigning National Champion RV Augustana (16-7, 9-1 NSIC) on Monday for a two-game series beginning at noon in Collegeville.

The weekend series, originally scheduled to be a three-game set, will be played at Becker Park, home of the St. John’s University Johnnies.

Augustana is deadlocked for first place in the Northern Sun with the Huskies, with both teams carrying 9-1 conference records.

Dominic Austing will oppose Vikings’ righthander Max Steffens in the opener. Austing has not allowed a run in 12.0 innings versus Augustana, holding a 14:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio with a .146 batting average against. The Huskies’ ace defeated then-#3 Augie last season in a duel with Jacob Blank. Steffens has established himself as the Vikings’ new ace after the program graduated their entire 2018 rotation, holding a 1.45 ERA and a .172 opponent batting average with just four walks in 37.1 innings spanning 6 starts.

Sheldon Miks is the scheduled starter for SCSU in game two, with his opponent yet to be determined. Augustana’ bullpen has been a stark weakness for the team in 2019, as getting the ball to Michael Brandt has been a grueling task. Injuries have accounted for part of those issues, as Derek Dahlke, Conner Herd and Peyton Zabel’s losses have thinned out an already-small staff.

Augustana features one of the top lineups in the region, slashing .328/.427/.469 for a team OPS of .896. Jordan Barth (.420/.475/.648, 11 2B, 3 HR, 23 RBI, 5-6 SB), Riley Johnson (.411/.495/.622, 9 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 7-9 SB), Seth Miller (.343/.489/.600, 4 2B, 3B, HR) and Ryan Nickel (.382/.440/.596, 12 2B, 2 3B, HR, 19 RBI, 6-8 SB) each carry OPS marks above 1.000. Shortstop Sam Baier has driven in a team-high 25 RBI with 8 steals and a .969 OPS, while Nebraska-Kearney transfer Will Olson (.375/.462/.518, 5 2B) provides big-time power behind the dish.

Huskies catcher Toran Shahidi’s 46.7% caught stealing rate will be tested, as Augustana enters the series averaging just shy of three steals attempted per game. Johnson, Baier, Nickel and Michael Svozil (7-11 SB) all feature plus speed, wrecking havoc on the basepaths.

Both games will be found live on the KVSC Sports Stream, with Thomas Breach on the call.