HILLSDALE BOX | FRANKLIN PIERCE BOX
CLERMONT, Fla. - No. 23 Augustana softball closed out their spring trip Tuesday with 4-1 and 6-2 wins over Hillsdale and Franklin Pierce, respectively.
Augustana improves to 20-3 for the season.
Game 1 remained scoreless until the top of the third inning, when
Jenny Brown led off with a single and scored on
Elizabeth Murray's double. Murray scored on
Matley Jones' single to make it 2-0.
In the top of the sixth, Augustana pushed the score to 4-0 when Brown again led off the inning with a single, stole a base then scored on Jones' single. Jones scored during the next at-bat when
Chelsi Winskowski hit a single.
In the bottom of the sixth, Hillsdale answered a run, but were smothered the remainder of the game by
Jenelle Trautmann, who earned the win with 7.0 innings thrown and only one earned run with seven strikeouts.
In Game 2, Augustana's
Ashley Meyer picked up the victory after throwing 5.0 innings and giving up two runs and striking out six.
Chelsey Durland threw the final 2.0 innings and gave up only one hit.
Offensively, the Vikings got on the board in the bottom of the first when
Theresa McMahon and Murray each made there way onto the basepath with a walk before scoring on Trautmann's 2-RBI single.
In the second, Durland led hit a lead-off single and was replaced by
Taylor Kapsch, who moved to third when
Brittany Coufal reached on an error, and scored on WInskowski's squeeze bunt. Coufal scored on Brown's single later in the inning.
After giving up two runs in the top of the fourth, Augustana stretched the lead to 5-2 in the fifth when
Elissa Reinsma crossed the plate on Durland's sacrifice fly. The final run of the game came in the sixth, when Jones blasted a single that allowed Winskowski to score from second base.
Winskowski finished the day with four stolen bases and now is a perfect nine for nine on the season.
Murray also blasted her seventh double of the season.
The Vikings open conference play this weekend at Nothern State on Friday and University of Mary on Saturday.
