SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 11 Augustana used a walk-off win on a sacrifice fly to sweep No. 17 Winona State (38-12, 20-5 NSIC) and gain a three-game lead on the Warriors in the NSIC standings. Augustana (43-7, 24-2 NSIC) used an eight-run fourth inning in an 11-0 win in game one before winning game two 2-1.
 
Jenelle Trautmann drove in the game-winning run in the nightcap getting a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on second and third, Winona State intentionally walked Carley Pickett to load the bases and bring Trautmann to the plate. Trautmann sent a slicing line drive down the line in right field and Winona State's Reed Karsten made a diving catch.
 
Mackenzie Alstott, who pinch ran for Kylie Rome who started the inning with a single, scored the game-winning run with a perfect slide to beat a strong throw by Karsten and give the Vikings a 2-1 win.
 
Augustana and Winona State were both ranked in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings. Augustana was ranked No. 1 for the second straight week while Winona State dropped to eighth.
 
Game one
After taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, Augustana scored eight runs in the bottom of the fourth to cruise to an 11-0 five-inning win over Winona State in the opener.
 
Augustana finished the game with 10 hits, led by Carly Peterson and Karlee Koopman who each had two hits. Koopman finished 2 for 3 with two RBI and Peterson 2 for 3 with two runs scored.
 
The Vikings hit three doubles in game one, including a milestone two-RBI double by Sarah Kennedy in the fourth. Kennedy hit her 23rd double of the season to tie the single season record set by former Viking and four-time All-America selection Jenny Hill in 2000.
 
Trautmann earned her 25th win of the season striking out eight and allowing just one hit over for innings to improve to 25-2 on the season.  She struck out the side in the top of the first inning and the offense got to work scoring three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first to take a 3-0 lead.
 
Trautmann drove in the game's first run with an RBI double that scored Kennedy. Trautmann made it 2-0 scoring when Peterson reached on a fielding error. Peterson then came around to score from second on an RBI single by Jordan Schaffer to make it 3-0.
 
Winona State picked up its first and only hit off of Trautmann in the top of the second but she struck out two and got the final out on a foul out to leave the runner stranded on first.
 
After a scoreless third inning, the Vikings exploded for eight runs on five hits and one error in the fourth to take an 11-0 lead.
 
Kaylea Schorr pinch hit for Rome to start the fourth and was hit by a pitch. Three pitches later, Nichol was hit by a pitch and the Vikings quickly got two runners on. After Carley Pickett flied out to left for the first out of the inning, Kennedy doubled in both Kennedy and Schorr to put Augustana up 5-0.
 
The Vikings did the rest of their damage with two outs as Koopman drove in two runs on a single to right field while a third run scored on the play on a throwing error by Winona State that made the score 8-0. Merriam drove in the ninth run of the game with an RBI single and Nichol doubled in two more to make it 11-0.
 
Koopman came in to pitch the fifth and pitched around a leadoff double that was followed by a single to put runners on first and third. The Vikings got out of the inning without any damage thanks to Jordan Schaffer picking off a runner at first base.
 
Game two
Augustana came out on top of an evenly matched pitcher's duel in the nightcap. Augustana's Carley Pickett and Winona State's Hanna Lythberg (18-7) went toe-to-toe in the nightcap with the Vikings coming out on top on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Trautmann.
 
Pickett earned her 14th win of the season to improve to 14-4 holding the Warriors to just one run on six hits while striking out three. The line score looked nearly the same for both teams as the Warriors finished with one run, six hits and one error. Augustana scored two runs on seven hits and had one error.
 
Pickett helped her own cause at the plate in the nightcap finishing 2 for 3 with an RBI. Rome also had two hits for the Vikings going 2 for 3 with two singles.
 
Winona State got two infield hits in the top of the first inning but Pickett ended up stranding two runners on. Neither team was able to muster up a hit until the Vikings scored a run on two hits and one error in the bottom of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Maggie Kadrlik reached on an error to start the inning and moved up to second on a one-out single by Rome.
 
Kadrlik and Rome moved up a base on a wild pitch to put runners on second and third with two outs. Pickett then delivered an RBI single through the right side of the infield to give her team a 1-0 lead.
 
The lead wouldn't last long as the Warriors struck for a run in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 1-1 but a great relay from the outfield stopped them from gaining the lead. On a single to left by Natalie Kalmes, McKenna Larsen came around to score to tie the game but Jessica Kullmann tried to score on the same play and a great relay from Peterson to Kennedy to Schaffer pegged Kullmann at home for the final out of the inning.
 
The two teams remained scoreless into the seventh inning where the Vikings used some seventh-inning magic to walk-off with a 2-1 win.
 
Augustana will close-out the regular season this weekend traveling to Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul for a pair of doubleheaders. Augustana and Minnesota State will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday and the Vikings and the Golden Bears will square-off at noon on Sunday.
 
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