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This week
No. 18 Augustana (44-7, 21-3 NSIC) will close out regular-season play this weekend with a conference doubleheader against Wayne State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The series
The Vikings are 30-13 all-time against Wayne State, including a win in last year's Central Region tournament.
Gretta Melsted is 6-9 all time against WSC.
Last time out
The Vikings are 9-1 over the past week, including a 12-0 NSIC record and a sweep of then-No. 3 Winona State. Augustana split against Chadron State, and swept Minnesota, Crookston, Minnesota State Moorhead and Upper Iowa.
T-Mac is back
Theresa McMahon (Hartford, S.D.) was named the NSIC Player of the Week after hitting .458 (11 for 24) with 11 RBIs, 10 runs scored, five doubles and two home runs in eight games last week. Against then-No. 3 Winona State, McMahon scored the lone run in a 1-0 victory and contributed an RBI in the 2-1 Game 2 victory. Her best game came against Minnesota, Crookston when she was 3 for 3 with two RBIs, a double and a home run in a 15-1 win. McMahon is hitting .336 this season with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs.
Playing hot
Elizabeth Murray (Cottage Grove, Minn.) hit .400 during the last week, including 11 RBIs and seven walks. Murray now has 35 RBIs and 31 walks for the season. Her best performance came against Upper Iowa when she went 3 for 4 with two RBIs, a home run and a double.
The closer
Chelsey Durland (Maple Plain, Minn.) had a 0.91 ERA and three saves in seven appearances last week. Durland gave up just 13 hits and two walks while striking out eight batters.
Finding the gap
Augustana hit 22 doubles last week, including six from
Theresa McMahon (Hartford, S.D.), four from
Matley Jones (Lincoln, Neb.) and three from
Jenelle Trautmann (Hastings, Minn.). The Vikings have hit 94 doubles this season and
Lindsay Spanton (Apple Valley, Minn.) leads the team with 15.
Rockin' rotation
Augustana's pitching rotation has combined for 275 strikeouts in 336 innings pitched, including 55 in the past 65 innings.
Ashley Meyer (Rapid City, S.D.),
Jenelle Trautmann (Hastings, Minn.) and
Chelsey Durland (Maple Plain, Minn.) form one of the most dominant pitching corp., in the conference. The three have allowed only 84 earned runs and 78 walks in 51 games.
Viking Power
The Vikings have 60 team home runs in 51 games this season and has a chance of breaking the team record for home runs in a season of 72 set in 2011. Team leaders in home runs are as follows:
Theresa McMahon 13
Jenelle Trautmann 12
Elizabeth Murray 9
Matley Jones 7
Kelsey Kalkman 5
Lindsay Spanton 5
Chelsi Winskowski 3
Taylor Kapsch 3
Chelsey Durland 2
Brittany Coufal 1
Top of the class
Augustana leads the NSIC in hits (220), runs (144), RBIs (131), doubles (43), home runs (27), total bases (344) and plate appearances (754).
Theresa McMahon (Hartford, S.D.) is currently leading the conference in slugging percentage (.845), runs (26) and home runs (8).
Hitting the sweet spot
Augustana has eight players batting over .300 this season.
Matley Jones (Lincoln, Neb.) is hitting .420 to lead the team while
Jenelle Trautmann (Hastings, Minn.) and
Chelsi Winskowski (Elk River, Minn.) are close behind, hitting .400 and .373, respectively.
Ace of the staff
Ashley Meyer (Rapid City, S.D.) won her 20th game of the season last weekend and has now one at least 20 games in every year at Augustana. Meyer has 70 wins in her career at Augustana.
Region Rankings
Augustana climbed one spot to No. 2 in the latest Central Region rankings released Wednesday by the NCAA. The Central Region is comprised of teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference:
Rank School DII Region
1 Minnesota State 36-7 27-6
2 Augustana 38-7 28-7
3 Winona State 35-6 27-6
4 CSU-Pueblo 24-13 24-13
5 Minnesota Duluth 31-17 27-15
6 Colorado Mesa 23-17 23-17
7 Concordia-St. Paul 23-18 13-17
8 Wayne State 25-19 18-16
9 Colorado Christian 25-20 23-15
10 Colorado Mines 25-20 25-20
National Rankings
Augustana sits at No. 18 in the latest national poll released April 18. The Vikings have been as high as No. 8 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll and have been ranked all season. To view the complete poll, turn to page 6.
Coaches' corner
Gretta Melsted, head coach at Augustana since 2007, has complied an impressive 86-14 record in just more than three seasons of NSIC competition, and is 210-112 (291-203) overall as she begins her sixth season as head coach at Augustana. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Melsted was named the NSIC Coach of the Year. Melsted notched her 250th career win at the Desert Stinger and her 200th win at Augustana last week.
Michael Mook is in his third season as a graduate assistant coach for the Augustana softball program, and works primarily with the pitching staff. Graduate assistant Kelsey Thompson is in her second year with the team.
