BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Augustana senior third baseman Caitlin Nichol has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Week the league office announced Tuesday.
 
Nichol batted .429 with nine hits, including two doubles and three home runs helping Augustana to a 6-0 record and securing the NSIC Regular Season Championship and the number one seed in the NSIC/US Bank Softball Tournament.  Nichol scored a team-high seven runs on the week and drove in a team-high nine of her own. She compiled a .952 slugging percentage and a .520 on-base percentage also being walked three times and hit by a pitch once.
 
Nichol had a huge day at Concordia-St. Paul in the regular season finale.  In game one, she finished with a career-high four hits going 4-for-5 with three home runs, six RBI and four runs scored. She accounted for 10 of Augustana's 12 runs in the game. She set a career-high and tied a single game record at Augustana with three home runs. She also took over the team-lead in home runs, setting a new single season record with 20 on the year.  In game two, Nichol went 2-for-4 with an RBI in a 5-2 win over the Golden Bears.
 
Nichol is the fifth player at Augustana to earn NSIC Player of the Week this season. This marks the first player of the week honor for Nichol in her career.
 
Augustana earned the No. 1 seed in the NSIC/US Bank Softball Tournament and will open play on Thursday, April 30 at 2 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined. The Vikings will play the lowest remaining seed between the 7-10 seeds. No. 7 seed Minnesota Duluth plays No. 10 seed Southwest Minnesota State and No. 8 seed St. Cloud State plays No. 9 seed Sioux Falls.