It's May, which brings with it May baskets, May flowers, and memorable Augustana baseball postseason runs. (Augie softball for that matter, too.)

The Vikings begin their quest for a fifth NSIC tournament title and ninth NCAA Div. II Tournament berth, and second national championship on Tim Huber's watch at The Birdcage on Wednesday evening.  

Six players have been drafted by Major League teams and 28 have been named All-America since Huber in 2009 after a few years as a junior college coach in the Twin Cities. Facilities and player talent have blossomed to become top-shelf at the Div. II level in those 16 years, a result of what what Huber calls "no secret sauce, just hard work."

The Belle Plaine, Minn., native walks us through that labor of love story, starting from humble beginnings on the Augie campus. A wooden fence, of all things, opened the floodgates and led to the mountain top in 2018.

Huber re-lives that remarkable run, and how it both changed things yet didn't. The Vikings haven't recaptured the ultimate prize, but have won the third-most games of any Div. II team in the nation in the last seven years.

How does Huber do it, what challenges do (or will) NIL and the transfer portal present his sport at his level, and how does he look back on Augie seeking — but ultimately not finding — Div. I status back in 2019-20?

He sat down with Happy Hour host John Gaskins at Gateway Lounge for an hour-long conversation to unpack his 16 years of success.