Storylines
• No. 25 Augustana softball returns to action March 15-18 at the Spring Games at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla.
• The Vikings will play eight games in four days starting on Sunday, March 15. 
• Augustana opens play against Dominican (N.Y.) at 4 p.m. (CT) before taking on Ferris State at 6 p.m. (CT). 
• On Monday, the Vikings will play Molloy at 10 a.m. before taking on conference foe Minot State in a non-conference match-up at 12 p.m.
• The Vikings will then play Caldwell at 12 p.m. and Wayne State (Mich.) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. 
• Augustana will close-out the eight-game trip against the New York Institute of Technology (10 a.m.) and St. Michael's (2 p.m.).
• Augustana has had the last two weeks off after going 4-1 at the Huskydome Classic Feb. 20-22. 

National news
• Augustana is ranked 25th for the third straight week in the NFCA Top 25 Poll. 
• Augustana opened the season ranked 14th in the Preseason NFCA Top 25 Poll.
• Augustana spent 13 weeks in the NFCA Top 25 in 2014, being ranked as high as fifth for three straight weeks. 
• The Vikings were ranked 15th in the final NFCA Top 25 Poll in 2014.   

Against ranked opponents in 2015
• Augustana has played three games against ranked opponents this season and is 2-1 in those games.
• The Vikings defeated No. 3 Dixie State 2-1 on Feb. 13 in Las Vegas. 
• The Vikings came up short in a 9-2 loss to No. 19 Humboldt State on Feb. 14.
• Augustana defeated 17th-ranked Emporia State 12-8 on Feb. 21 at the Huskydome Classic

Lotta games, little time
• Augustana opened the season playing 10 games in 10 days participating at the Desert Stinger (Feb. 13-14) and the Huskydome Classic (Feb. 20-22). 
• The Vikings will have had 20 days off before first pitch against Dominican (N.Y.) on Sunday. 
• Augustana will then play eight games in four days in Florida before heading back north for six games from March 20-22 at the Missouri Western Tournament in St. Joseph, Mo. 

NSIC Player of the Week
• Jenelle Trautmann was named the NSIC's Player of the Week on Feb. 17 for her efforts at the Desert Stinger. 
• Trautmann batted .571 with eight hits, including a double and three home runs while driving in 13 runs in five games.
• The honor marked the fourth NSIC weekly honor of her career, the first as player of the week.
• Trautmann has been named the NSIC's pitcher of the week three times in her career.

Scouting the competition
Dominican (N.Y.)
• Dominican (N.Y.) opened its season on Wednesday with a pair of games at the NTC Games in Clermont. 
• Augustana will be Dominican's last game of a 10-game trip to the Sunshine State. 
• Dominican was picked to finish fifth in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference preseason poll. 
• Dominican returns 13 players from last season, including nine All-CACC performers. 
• Joe Burbridge is in his seventh season as the head coach at Dominican. 

Ferris State
• Ferris State is 4-16 on the season and is currently in the middle of an 18-game trip at the NTC Games. 
• Augustana will be Ferris State's 18th opponent of its spring trip. 
• The Bulldogs started the season going 1-5 at the Charger Chillout in Huntsville, Ala., picking up a 6-3 win in its final game of that trip. 
• Ferris State then lost seven straight and is currently 3-7 in games at the NTC in Clermont, Fla. 
• Sarah Rotta is in her second season as the head coach at Ferris State. 

Molloy College
• Molloy College is 1-5 on the season and will begin play at the NTC Games on Saturday, March 14. 
• Molloy opened the season going 1-5 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Tucson, Ariz. 
• Molloy was picked to finish third in the eight-team East Coast Conference in the preseason coaches poll. 
• Molloy finished 30-22-1 last season, reaching the ECC Tournament championship game. 
• Molloy is batting .298 as a team on the season, led by Victoria gunnels who is hitting .556 with a team-high 10 hits and 10 RBI. 
• Chelsea Hawks has made three starts for the Lions and is 0-3 on the year with a 4.20 ERA. 
• Susan Cassidy-Lyke is in her ninth season as the head coach at Molloy. 

Minot State
• Minot State is 11-2 on the season and has won eight straight games. 
• The Beavers opened the year going 3-2 at the Desert Stinger in Las Vegas before going 4-0 at the West St. Paul Dome Tournament. 
• Minot State played four games in St. Cloud, Minn., going 2-0 against Minnesota Crookston and Wisconsin-Parkside.
• Minot State is batting .349 as a team this season and has scored 84 runs with 17 doubles and 14 home runs. 
• Jordan Grant leads the team batting .490 with a team-high 24 hits. 
• Ali Cygan has driven in a team-high 17 RBI and has three home runs on the season. 
• Mindy Lorimor leads Minot State in the circle with an 8-2 record and a 2.16 ERA. Lorimor has struck out 50 batters in 58.1 innings of work. 
• Bill Tripplett is in his eighth season as the head coach at Minot State in 2015. 

Caldwell
• Caldwell University is ranked 14th in the NFCA Top 25 Poll. 
• Caldwell opens its season on Friday at the NTC Games in Clermont. 
• Caldwell was picked to win the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and returns 13 players from last year's team that set a conference record with 24 wins. 
• Caldwell returns nine all-conference performers from last season, including All-America performers Kristen Knorr and Brielle Reighn.
• Caldwell finished 45-9 last season before falling in the region final against LIU Post. 
• Dean Johnson is in his 21st season as the head coach at Caldwell. 

Wayne State
• Wayne State is currently 7-8 on the season and will open a 13-game trip in Clermont, Fla. on Saturday.
• The Warriors have won four of their last four games and were last in action on March 8 at the North Georgia Captain D's Classic. 
• Wayne State is batting .260 on the season and has scored 29 runs with 13 doubles, three triples and a home run. 
• Jade McGarr leads the team with a .370 batting average, a team-high 17 hits, including three doubles.
• Lyndsay Butler leads the team in the circle with a 0.97 ERA in eight appearances. 
• Butler owns a 3-4 record but has tossed seven complete games and struck out 56 batters in 52.1 innings of work. 
• Gary Bryce is in his 34th season as the head coach at Wayne State. 
 • Augustana and Wayne State will square-off in the Sunshine State for the seventh straight season. 
• Augustana is 10-6 all-time against Wayne State and has won five of the last six meetings between the two teams. 

New York Institute of Technology
• NYIT is 2-2 on the season and has had two games canceled and two games postponed in 2015. 
• The Bears opened the season with four games in Clermont, Fla. March 1-2. 
• NYIT returns to Florida for 10 games from March 13-18 in Clermont. 
• NYIT is batting .347 as a team with 10 doubles and 23 runs scored in four games. 
• Tori Duquette is leading the team at the plate batting .615 with a team-high eight hits in 13 at bats. 
• Sofia Evangelista leads NYIT in the circle with a 1-0 record in two starts. She owns a 3.94 ERA and has struck out nine batters in 10.2 innings of work.
• Stephen Christianson is in his 10th season as the head coach at NYIT. 

Saint Michael's 
• Saint Michael's opens the 2015 season with a 10-game trip to the NTC Games March 14-19.
• Saint Michael's was picked to finish eighth in the Northeast-10 Northeast Division in the preseason poll. 
• Saint Michael's finished 1-34 last season and return 10 players from last year's roster. 
• Robyn Newton is in her 15th season as the head coach at St. Michael's.

In the circle
• Jenelle Trautmann and Karlee Koopman are both 3-0 in the circle for the Vikings in 2015. 
• Koopman leads the team with a 1.43 ERA and is holding batters to a .262 batting average on the season. 
• Koopman has made two starts and three appearances and has struck out six batters in 14.2 innings. 
• Trautmann has posted a 3.68 ERA in eight appearances in five starts. 
• Trautmann has struck out 35 batters in 38 innings of work
• Carley Pickett is 1-3 in eight appearances in the circle this season. 
• Pickett has struck out 17 batters in 17.1 innings this season and has tossed one shutout. 
• Pickett also has one save on the season giving her 14 for her career and putting her five shy of setting a new program record. 
• Pickett led all of NCAA Division II in saves in 2014 with nine. 

The chase is on -- Augustana's home run Queen tracking down NCAA record
• Senior Jenelle Trautmann hit two home runs at the Huskydome Classic last weekend and now has belted five on the season. 
• Trautmann, Augustana's all-time leader in home runs, has now hit 60 putting her in a tie for sixth all-time in NCAA Division II history. 
• Trautmann is now just two home runs shy of moving into a tie for third all-time. 
• Kutztown's Steph Denlinger (2006-09) is the NCAA Division II leader in career home runs with 79.

Hitting streak in tact and extended
• Sophomore shortstop Sarah Kennedy entered the 2015 season on a five-game hitting streak. 
• Kennedy extended her hit streak to 10 games, picking up a hit in each of the five games at the Desert Stinger to open the season. 
• The trend continued at the Huskydome Classic as Kennedy hit safely in five more games to extend her hit streak to 15 games. 
• Kennedy had two or more hits in three of the five games at the Huskydome Classic, including three in two games. 
• Kennedy is batting .500 on the season with 18 hits, including four doubles and a triple. 
• Kennedy ranks fifth in the NSIC and 56th in the country with her .500 batting average. 
• She has compiled a .561 on-base percentage and has scored nine runs while driving in seven. 

Setting the table
• Senior third baseman and leadoff hitter Caitlin Nichol is currently riding a seven game hitting streak and has reached base safely in all 10 games this season. 
• Nichol is batting .452 with 14 hits, including a home run while driving in seven runs. 
• Nichol has also picked up five walks and has been hit by a pitch four times, compiling a .548 on-base percentage. 
• Nichol ranks second on the team with 10 runs scored and is getting into scoring position early.
• Nichol ranks 20th in the nation scoring 1.4 runs per game in 2015. 

Off to a fast start
• Jenelle Trautmann is off to a fast start offensively after the first weekend of play. 
• Trautmann batted .571 with eight hits, including a double and three home runs in five games last weekend. 
• Trautmann compiled a 1.286 slugging percentage and drove in 13 runs. 
• She opened the weekend going 1 for 3 with a three-run home run in a win over Regis. 
• Trautmann then matched her career-high with four hits going 4 for 4 with a double and four RBI against Montana State-Billings. 
• She followed that by going 2 for 2 with two home runs and five RBI against Western Oregon. 
• Trautmann ended the tournament going 1 for 3 with an RBI against Humboldt State.