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This week
No. 23 Augustana (31-4, 9-1 NSIC) will play two conference games at home and four on the road throughout the next six days.
How it breaks down
The Vikings will host No. 13 Minnesota State (29-6, 9-1 NSIC) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. before traveling north for the weekend. The Vikings face St. Cloud State (18-16, 4-4 NSIC) on Friday at 1 p.m. and Concordia University, St. Paul (20-11, 5-3 NSIC) on Saturday at noon. All matchups are conference doubleheaders
The series
Augustana holds winning records in every series it will play this week. The Vikings are 60-38 against MSU and 63-30 when facing St. Cloud State, including two non-conference games earlier this season. Augustana is 13-6 all-time against Concordia University, St.. Paul.
Gretta Melsted is 9-10 against Minnesota State, 9-4 against St. Cloud State and 8-4 when facing Concordia University, St. Paul.
Last time out
The Vikings have won 10 straight (eight NSIC) games since losing to Northern State on March 24. Augustana defeated Southwest Minnesota State, the University of Sioux Falls, Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth in doubleheaders last week.
T-Mac attack
Theresa McMahon (Hartford, S.D.) raised her batting average 67 points to .296 after putting on a 13 for 28 show at the plate last week. In eight games, McMahon had three home runs (one walk-off), three doubles and 13 RBIs and scored nine runs. Her best game was against the University of Sioux Falls when she went 4 for 4 with four RBIs, a home run and a double.
Pitching guru
Ashley Meyer's (Rapid City, S.D.) 3-0 performance last week included a no-hitter against the University of Sioux Falls. Meyer dropped her ERA to 1.17 and allowed only one earned run in four games. Meyer's best game came against USF when she struck out 12 batters and only two batters reached first, both on errors.
New record
Chelsey Durland (Maple Plain, Minn.) now holds the career and single-season save record at Augustana. Durland notched her sixth and seventh saves of the season last weekend against Minnesota Duluth. She now has 10 saves for her career. Jenny Hill set the previous career saves record of nine from 1998-01 and the single season record of five saves in 2000.
Rockin' rotation
Augustana's pitching rotation has combined for 188 strikeouts in 229 innings pitched.
Ashley Meyer (Rapid City, S.D.),
Jenelle Trautmann (Hastings, Minn.) and
Chelsey Durland (Maple Plain, Minn.) form one of the most dominant pitching corps. in the conference. The three have allowed only 50 earned runs and just six home runs.
Viking Power
The Vikings have 36 team home runs in 35 games this season. The Vikings are currently on pace to break the team record for home runs in a season of 72 set in 2011. Team leaders in home runs are as follows:
Jenelle Trautmann 10
Theresa McMahon 6
Matley Jones 5
Kelsey Kalkman 4
Elizabeth Murray 4
Chelsi Winskowski 3
Lindsay Spanton 2
Two tied with 1
Making a name for herself
Matley Jones (Lincoln, Neb.) leads the team with a .545 batting average (30 for 55) with five home runs and only five strikeouts. Jones has a team-leading slugging percentage of .873 and .554 on-base percentage.
Limiting opportunities
The Vikings have ten shutouts this season, helped by a team fielding average of .959.
Ashley Meyer (Rapid City, S.D.) and
Jenelle Trautmann (Hastings, Minn.) have each shut out their opponent 10 times this season.
Home cooking
Augustana is 8-0 at home this season, and
Taylor Kapsch (Sioux Falls, S.D.) was 5 for 11 in seven games last week. Kapsch is one of seven Vikings with no errors. Kapsch's best performance of the weekend came against the University of Sioux Falls when she was 3 for 3 with a double and three runs.
Speed wins
Chelsi Winskowski (Elk River, Minn.),
Jenny Brown (Omaha, Neb.) and
Elissa Reinsma (Slayton, Minn.) are the Vikings' top-three in stolen bases. Winskowski has 12 while Brown and Reinsma are tied at six each. Brown also has added two triples this season.
National Rankings
Augustana sits at No. 23 in the latest national poll released March 28. 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 76-12 record in just more than three seasons of NSIC competition, and is 197-109 (278-200) 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.
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.
