GAME 1 BOX | GAME 2 BOX

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 18 Augustana softball swept a doubleheader over Minot State winning two completely different ways. The Vikings (25-5, 6-0 NSIC) won the opener 9-0 in five innings before outlasting the Beavers (20-8, 1-4 NSIC) 9-8 in the nightcap.
 
Augustana belted five home runs and combined for 22 hits in the doubleheader. Jenelle Trautmann hit two home runs going 5 for 7 at the plate with five RBI. Caitlin Nichol was 5 for 6 with two doubles and a home run this afternoon.
 
Trautmann also improved to 15-1 in the circle picking up the win in both games. In the opener, Trautmann struck out six and allowed no runs on three hits. She came into the second game in relief and struck out 10 batters while allowing just two runs, one earned.
 
Game one
The top half of the order combined for nine of the Vikings' 11 hits in game one. Augustana had seven extra base hits, including four doubles and three home runs. Caitlin Nichol was 2 for 2 with a double and two runs scored. Carley Pickett went 2 for 3 with a home run and Sarah Kennedy was 2 for 3 with a double, a home run and two RBI.
 
Trautmann was 3 for 3 with a home run and two RBI. Maddie Merriam finished 2 for 2 with a double and two RBI as well for the Vikings.
 
The Vikings jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Nichol led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a fielding error by the left fielder. Pickett then laid down an excellent bunt past the pitcher that allowed Nichol to score and give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. Four pitches later, Kennedy gave Augustana a 3-0 lead with her sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Maddie Merriam doubled to right center to drive in two more runs and give the Vikings a 5-0 lead.
 
Trautmann set the Beavers down in order in the top of the second and the Vikings got right back to work with the top of the order in the bottom of the inning. Nichol led off with a double to left center and Pickett smashed her third home run of the season down the left field line to put Augustana up 7-0. Kennedy followed with a double and Trautmann made it back-to-back two-baggers to drive in Kennedy and give herself an 8-0 lead.
 
Minot State got a two-out bunt single in the top of the third but Trautmann struck out the side to keep the Beavers scoreless. Merriam led off the bottom of the third with a single and the Vikings looked to add to the lead before Kylie Rome lined out sharply into a double play.
 
Trautmann pitched around a leadoff double in the fourth and helped her own cause in the home half of the inning with a solo shot to center field giving her team a 9-0 lead. The Vikings would go on to win game one by the eight-run rule in five innings.
 
Game two
Augustana and Minot State combined for 23 hits and 17 runs in the nightcap. Minot State grabbed a 6-0 lead after two innings but the Vikings chipped away and took the lead for good in the fourth.
 
It was Minot State that got off to a fast start in the second game. The Beavers scored a run in the top of the first on an RBI single by Ashley Hill that drove in Jordan Grant to give Minot State a 1-0 lead. The Beavers added five runs on five hits in the top of the second to go in front 6-0.
 
The Vikings didn't waste any time getting back into the game cutting the lead in half in the bottom of the second.  Nichol came up clutch with a two-out three-run home run to bring the Vikings within three at 6-3.
 
After a scoreless fifth, Augustana went on to score six runs on six hits in the bottom of the fourth to take a 9-6 lead.
 
Merriam started the rally with a one-out double and Karlee Koopman drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI single down the left field line. Nichol followed with a double to put runners on second and third and Pickett delivered an RBI single to bring the Vikings within one at 6-5. Kennedy drove in another with an RBI single and Trautmann drove a 1-0 pitch off the scoreboard to put Augustana up 9-6.

Minot State got one run back in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by Ali Cygan to make the score 9-7 and got another run closer in the top of the seventh scoring an unearned run to make it 9-8. Trautmann got a strikeout and a pop out to end the threat and give the Vikings a four-game sweep on the weekend.
 
Augustana returns to action on Tuesday, March 31, hosting Upper Iowa in a doubleheader at Bowden Field with first pitch set for 3 p.m.