Storylines• No. 11 Augustana softball (22-5, 5-1 NSIC) will now play No. 20 Winona State on Wednesday, April 2 in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. at Alumni Field on the Winona State University campus.
• The Vikings and the Warriors (19-3, 2-0 NSIC) were scheduled to play on Tuesday but moved the game to Wednesday due to cold temperatures.
• Wednesdays twinbill is a big one for both teams early in conference play.
• Winona State sits in second in the conference standings at 2-0 just ahead of the Vikings who are in third at 5-1 in NSIC play.
National news• After being ranked fifth for three straight weeks, Augustana dropped to 11th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Top 25 poll that was released on Wednesday.
• The Vikings were ranked 22nd in the NFCA preseason poll.
• Augustana jumped by going 4-1 in its opening weekend, including a win over then No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Central Oklahoma.
• The Vikings are 3-1 against ranked opponents this season.
• The complete list of the NFCA Preseason rankings can be found on page 3.
Last time out• Augustana went 4-0 last weekend sweeping doubleheaders with MSU Moorhead and Northern State.
• The Vikings opened the weekend scoring 16 runs in two games with MSU Moorhead, winning the opener 8-0 and the second game 8-3.
• Augustana had 10 hits in game one, with seven players recording at least one hit.
• The Vikings got off to a fast start scoring two runs in the first before exploding for five in the third inning.
• In the third inning, Augustana got home runs from
Jenelle Trautmann,
Lindsay Spanton and
Maddie Merriam.
• Augustana got off to another fast start in game two scoring three runs in the first two innings.
• Augustana scored eight runs on 15 hits in the nightcap.
•
Erin Kempf led the Vikings at the plate going 3 for 4 while Spanton went 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBI.
• On Sunday, the Vikings battled for a 4-3 game-one win over Northern State before winning game two 7-1.
•
Carley Pickett earned her conference-leading sixth save against Northern State in game one and
Emily Heinz came up with the big hit blasting a two-run home run that gave Augustana a 4-0 lead in the third.
• The Wolves plated a run in a the sixth and two in the seventh but the Vikings escaped with the win.
• Trautmann took a no-hitter into the fourth inning before Northern State's Rachel Albright hit a solo home run for the Wolves' only hit in game two.
About Winona State• Winona State enters Wednesday's game at 19-3 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
• The Warriors opened conference play on March 28 with a sweep over St. Cloud State.
• Winona State has had two conference games postponed and two canceled so far this season.
• The Warriors are batting .352 as a team and have 35 doubles, 11 triples and 12 home runs on the season.
• Lexi Perez leads Winona State at the plate batting .463 on the season with 19 hits.
• Reed Karsten is batting .423 with three doubles and a team-high six triples.
• Hanna Lythberg owns a 9-1 record in the circle for the Warriors with a 1.74 ERA.
• Lythberg has started 13 games and made 14 appearances and has tossed seven complete games and struck out 33 batters on the season.
• Greg Jones is in his 14th season as the head coach at Winona State.
Bats come alive in debut at Bowden• Playing its first home games of the 2014 season this past weekend, Augustana's bats came alive as the Vikings hit .422 as a team with five doubles and five home runs in four games.
• The Vikings entered the weekend batting .288 on the season as a team, and came out of the weekend at .307.
• Augustana doubled its home run total on the season in just four games over the weekend.
• Augustana used the same batting lineup in all four games this weekend and all nine batters hit .300 or better.
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