SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 9 Augustana softball secured its second straight 40-win season with a doubleheader sweep of St. Cloud State (24-24, 10-14 NSIC) on Monday afternoon at Bowden Field. The Vikings scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to defeat the Huskies 10-2 in the opener before winning game two 7-4. With the sweep, Augustana improved to 41-7, including 22-2 in the NSIC.
 
Augustana has won 40-plus games in a season 18 times in program history, including two straight seasons after going 46-15 in 2014. Gretta Melsted, now in her ninth season, has led Augustana to five 40-plus win seasons.
 
Game one
Augustana scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to enforce the eight-run rule in a 10-2 win over the Huskies. The Vikings finished the game with nine hits, led by Carly Peterson who finished 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Karlee Koopman who was 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
 
Caitlin Nichol hit her 15th home run of the season in the opener finishing 1 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Jordan Schaffer and Kylie Rome each drove in two runs in the contest, both coming up with a two-RBI double.
 
Jenelle Trautmann earned her 24th win of the season in the circle striking out nine and allowing just two runs on four hits.
 
Augustana jumped out to an early 4-0 lead scoring two runs in each of the first and second innings. Schaffer doubled with two outs in the bottom of the first to drive in Nichol and Trautmann who each walked earlier in the inning. In the second inning, Koopman scored on a passed ball and Peterson doubled to drive in Maddie Merriam, who got on base with a single to center field, to give the Vikings a 4-0 lead.
 
Augustana made it 5-0 in the third when Koopman drove in a run with an infield single and the two teams played a scoreless fourth. The Huskies made it 5-2 in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run home run by Megan Lehnen with nobody out. Trautmann got out of the inning with no further damage and the Vikings would take the three-run lead into the sixth.
 
Nichol hit a solo shot to right center to lead off a five-run fifth inning that would allow the Vikings to earn a 10-2 eight-run rule win over the Huskies. Peterson followed the home run with a single up the middle and Kennedy drove her in with her second triple of the season. The Vikings added another run on a bases loaded walk by Merriam and Rome doubled in two more to end the game at 10-2.
 
Game two
The Vikings started game two off in similar fashion to game one, scoring four runs in the first two innings to build an early lead. St. Cloud State would not go away quietly, scoring four runs in the final four innings but Augustana held on for the win.
 
Nichol had another big day at the plate going 2 for 4 with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored.  Nichol has hit two home runs in a game three times this season and now ranks second on the team with 17 on the year.
 
After being walked four times in game one, Trautmann walked twice more in the second game but managed two singles in game two to finish 2 for 2. Schaffer added two hits in game two, going 2 for 4 with two RBI.
 
Schaffer started the scoring in the bottom of the first with a bases loaded two-RBI single that scored Kennedy and Peterson giving Augustana a 2-0 lead. Rome led off the bottom of the second with an infield single and Nichol belted her first home run of the game over the fence in left center to put Augustana up by four at 4-0.
 
St. Cloud State plated its first run of the game in the top of the fourth scoring a run on a bases loaded walk to make the score 4-1. The Huskies would end up leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and the Vikings answered with a three-run bottom half of the inning to extend the lead to 7-1.
 
Nichol started the fourth with her second home run of the game and 17th of the season to make the score 5-1. The Vikings loaded the bases and scored both of their next runs on hit batters to take a 7-1 lead. Maggie Kadrlik, who was hit by a pitch twice in game one, drove in a run getting hit by a pitch in game two and later in the inning Merriam was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the seventh run of the game.
 
The Huskies scored a run in the fifth and added two more in the seventh to make the score 7-4 but Koopman, who came into the game in relief of Carley Pickett, didn't allow any further damage in the seventh to help Pickett earn her 13th win of the year.
 
Pickett finished the day allowing just two runs on seven hits while striking out five in six innings pitched in the nightcap.
 
Augustana returns to action on Wednesday, April 22, hosting Winona State in a crucial doubleheader at Bowden Field. Augustana sits just ahead of Winona State in first place in the NSIC standings. First pitch between the ninth-ranked Vikings and 19th-ranked Warriors is set for 3 p.m.