Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2
The Augustana softball team beat Minnesota Duluth 2-1 in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament and then lost to Winona State 4-2 in second round play Friday in Marshall, Minn.
The Vikings (30-22) will move on to play on Saturday at 10 a.m. against the winner of the matchup between Upper Iowa and Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Warriors (42-11) will play the winner of the game between Southwest Minnesota State and Wayne State at noon on Friday.
Freshman pitcher
Chelsey Durland held the University of Minnesota Duluth to seven hits in a 2-1 first round win Friday morning.
Durland (11-4) went six strong innings in the pitchers circle with four strike outs to help Augustan win its 30th game of the season.
Augustana was able to get just four hits off of Bulldog starting pitcher Kristin Danielson (17-11), but the Vikings were able to manufacture a pair of runs with some small ball in the third and fourth inning.
Senior
Erika Wolner led off the bottom of the third with a single and was moved to second on an
Ally Rutherford sacrifice bunt, before advancing to third on a passed ball.
Freshman
Britt Stewart then stepped up to the plate with two outs and drove a 1-1 pitch into left field to score Wolner from third base.
The Vikings then added its second run in the fourth as freshman
Elizabeth Murray led the inning off with a double and scored on the next pitch as freshman
Kelsey Kalkman bunted for a single to put Augie up 2-0.
In the top half of the fifth, Taylor Van Damme sent a double to left center to start the inning for the Bulldogs. She then advanced to third on a single and cut the lead in half on a fielder's choice.
The Bulldogs threatened in the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles to start the inning to knock Durland form the game, but Stewart came in and got out of the jam with a strike out and a pair ground balls to earn her second save of the season.
Wolner and Murray both went 1-for-3 with a run scored and Stewart and Kalkman both went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
In the second round of the tournament, Winona State opened up the game with a two-run first inning as the Warriors' Kayla Lewis drove in a pair of runs on two out double to left field.
The Vikings cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second when Augie strung together four straight singles, as Murray singled in
Erin Bohlmann. The Warriors starting pitcher Chelsey Ewing (11-3) then finished the inning with a fly out and strike out to leave three Augie runs stranded.
Winona State added another run in the third and fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead.
In the sixth inning,
Traci Fransen led off with a single and
Brittany Lipetzky came in to pinch run for her. Lipetzky advanced to third base two pitches later on a Stewart double.
She then was caught in a run down after a Bohlmann single and the play ended with Augie runners on second and third. Kalkman hit a ground ball to second base to score Stewart for the final run of the game.
Stewart (9-8) threw all seven innings for Augustana, giving up four earned runs on seven hits, while striking out four batters.
Offensively, Bohlman went 2-for-3 with a run scored, as Fransen also went 2-for-3 in the game. Stewart finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
