Storylines
• No. 18 Augustana softball returns to Bowden Field for a pair this Wednesday before trekking north for a pair of twinbills on the weekend. 
• The Vikings (31-5, 12-0 NSIC) will look to build on their 14-game win streak, starting with Sioux Falls (18-12, 4-6 NSIC) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. 
• Augustana will then head north to take on Minnesota Crookston (4-26, 1-12 NSIC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday before heading to Bemidji, Minn., to take on Bemidji State (12-16, 3-9 NSIC) at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
• Augustana, at 31-5 on the season, has secured its seventh straight 30-plus win season.
• Augustana has won 30-plus games in a season 28 times in program history.
• Augustana enters the week riding a 14-game winning streak, including 12 straight conference wins. 

First Dakota National Bank Mayor's Cup Challenge
• Augustana and USF will compete for a point in the First Dakota National Bank Mayor's Cup Challenge on Wednesday. 
• The Mayor's Cup Challenge is an annual head-to-head competition between the Augustana and USF athletic departments and their fans which pits 16 common, equally weighted sports to determine which school and their fan base can claim bragging rights for that year.
• Augustana has won the point-based competition two straight seasons.
• Augustana currently holds a one point lead in the 2014-15 First Dakota National Bank Mayor's Cup Challenge, leading USF 6.5 to 5.5.
• For more information on the First Dakota National Bank Mayor's Cup Challenge, visit SFmayorscup.com. 

National news
• Augustana is ranked 18th in the NFCA Top 25 Poll.
• The Vikings have spent the last two weeks ranked 18th in the NFCA Top 25. 
• 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.   
• The complete list of the NFCA Preseason rankings can be found on page 4.

Augustana in NSIC Statistics
• Augustana ranks high in multiple team and individual categories in the NSIC. 
• Augustana ranks second in the conference with a .334 team batting average and leads the league with a .536 team slugging percentage. 
• The Vikings lead the NSIC in on-base percentage (.410), runs scored (237), RBI (224), doubles (57) and home runs (45). Augustana also ranks second in the NSIC with 324 hits on the season. 
• Augustana ranks second with a team 2.21 ERA, first in opponent batting average (.232), second in batters struck out (287) and first in saves (4). 
• Sarah Kennedy leads the NSIC with a .529 batting average and a league-high 17 doubles. 
• Kennedy ranks second in the conference with 43 RBI, an .884 slugging percentage, a .556 on-base percentage.
• Jenelle Trautmann leads the NSIC with 15 home runs and 47 RBI. 
• Trautmann also leads the NSIC with a .989 slugging percentage and a .586 on-base percentage. 
• Trautmann ranks third in the NSIC with a 2.16 ERA and fourth in innings pitched (126.1). 
• Trautmann has struck out 179 batters, ranking second in the NSIC. 
• Trautmann leads all pitchers in the NSIC with 19 wins. 

NSIC Player of the Week
• Jenelle Trautmann was named the NSIC's Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week on Monday. 
• Trautmann has been named the NSIC's Pitcher of the Week for two straight weeks. 
• Trautmann posted a 4-0 record and a 0.00 ERA in four appearances last week. 
• She struck out 37 batters in 19 innings of work, allowing just eight hits, all singles. 
• Trautmann has been named the NSIC's Pitcher of the Week twice this season and five times in her career. 
• She has been named the NSIC's Player of the Week twice in her career, both this season.
• Sophomore shortstop Sarah Kennedy was named the NSIC's Player of the Week on March 31. 

Scouting the competition
Sioux Falls
• USF enters the week at 18-12 on the season, including 4-6 in the NSIC. 
• The Cougars split a pair of doubleheaders on the road last weekend at Minot State and U-Mary. 
• USF is batting .294 as a team on the season and has hit 37 doubles, one triple and 32 home runs. 
• Danielle Walker leads USF batting .400 with eight doubles and six home runs. 
• Betsy Thomas is batting .355 with two doubles and a team-high 10 home runs and has driven in 31 runs. 
• Breanna Black owns an 8-5 record in the circle for the Cougars to go with a 2.46 ERA. 
• Black has struck out 43 batters in 85.1 innings of work. 
• Former Augustana assistant, Kelsey Thompson, is in her second season as the head coach at USF. 

Minnesota Crookston
• Minnesota Crookston enters this week with a record of 4-26 on the season, including 0-12 in conference play. 
• The Golden Eagles open the week with a doubleheader at St. Cloud State on Wednesday. 
• UMC is batting .275 as a team on the season and has hit 41 doubles, six triples and 19 home runs. 
• Victoria Bayliss is batting .396 with a team-high nine doubles and three triples. 
• UMC has used five different pitchers this season. 
• Bailey Braatz has made 19 appearances and 11 starts and owns a 2-10 record and a 5.81 ERA.

Bemidji State
• Bemidji State enters the week with a 12-16 record on the season, including 3-9 in conference play.  
• Bemidji State has lost nine straight games and will play Minnesota Duluth in a doubleheader on Tuesday. 
• The Beavers are batting .294 as a team and have hit 37 doubles, one triple and 26 home runs. 
• Lyndsey Peterson leads the team batting .391 on the season with a team-high eight doubles. 
• Jessica Yost has made 13 starts and 18 appearances for the Beavers and owns a 9-5 record to go along with a 3.21 ERA. Yost has struck out 113 batters in 85 innings of work. 

One streak ends, another starts
• Sophomore shortstop Sarah Kennedy is currently riding a 17-game hitting streak.  
• Kennedy had a 23-game hitting streak come to an end in the first game of the Missouri Western Tournament on March 20. 
• Kennedy ended the 2014 season on a five-game hitting streak and had a hit in the first 18 games of the season in 2015. 
• Kennedy has a hit in all but on of this season's 35 games.  
• Kennedy has reached base safely in all 36 games this season. 
• Kennedy enters the week leading the NSIC with a .529 batting average on the season.
• Kennedy also leads the NSIC and the NCAA with 17 doubles. 
• Kennedy also leads the NSIC with 64 hits on the season.
• Kennedy has two or more hits in 23 games this season and has driven in two or more runs in 14 games. 
• In six games last week, Kennedy hit .600 with two doubles, two home runs and nine RBI.

The pitching staff
• Jenelle Trautmann leads the Vikings pitching staff with a record of 19-1 on the season. 
• Trautmann leads all pitchers in the NSIC and ranks 19th in the country with 19 wins. 
• Trautmann has compiled a 2.16 ERA in 19 starts and 26 appearances. 
• Trautmann has struck out a team-high 179 batters in 126.1 innings of work. 
• Trautmann ranks 12th in the nation in strikeouts and 14th averaging 9.9 strikeouts per seven innings. 
• Trautmann went 4-0 last week, striking out 37 batters in 19 innings pitched. 
• She held opponents to a .121 batting average and allowed just eight hits, all singles. 
• Trautmann matched her season-high with 14 strikeouts in a complete-game victory over MSU Moorhead on Saturday.
• Carley Pickett owns an 8-3 record on the season in 24 appearances (13 starts).
• She leads the NSIC and ranks eighth in the country with four saves on the year.
• Pickett led all of NCAA Division II in saves in 2014 with nine.
• Pickett has tossed two complete games and is holding batters to a .248 batting average. 
• She has struck out 84 batters in 75 innings pitched. 
• Karlee Koopman owns a 4-1 record and a 2.22 ERA on the season in the circle for the Vikings. 
• Koopman has made four starts in 17 appearances and has struck out 24 batters in 34.2 innings of work. 
• Augustana's pitching staff owns a combined ERA of 2.43 and has struck out 287 batters in 236 innings.

Setting the table
• Senior third baseman Caitlin Nichol is batting .478 out of the leadoff spot for the Vikings this season. 
• She has 55 hits in 115 at-bats, including six doubles and nine home runs. 
• She has been hit by a pitch a team-high eight times and ranks second with 14 walks. 
• She owns a .554 on-base percentage, which ranks third in the NSIC and 28th in the country. 
• Nichol has scored a team-high 49 runs on the season, which leads all players in the NSIC. 
• She averages 1.36 runs scored per game, which ranks fifth in NCAA Division II.  
• Nichol has been on a tear as of late, batting .625 with 20 hits, including four doubles and five home runs in the last 10 games. 
• In the last 10 games, he has compiled a 1.219 slugging percentage and a .692 on-base percentage. 

Loved by Augie, feared by all
• Senior Jenelle Trautmann is batting .446 on the season with 41 hits in 92 at-bats. 
• Trautmann has five doubles and a league-high 15 home runs on the season. 
• Trautmann also leads the NSIC and ranks ninth in the nation with 47 RBI. 
• Trautmann ranks 13th in the nation with a .586 on-base percentage this season. 
• Trautmann has been walked a league-high 28 times (.78 walks per game), which ranks 20th in the NCAA. 
• Trautmann was intentionally walked four times in game one of a doubleheader at Northern State last Friday. 
• Trautmann tied her own single-game record for intentional walks. 
• She was intentionally walked four times against Concordia-St. Paul on April 18 of last season, after hitting three home runs against the Golden Bears in the first game of the doubleheader. 

Pickett picks up steam
• Junior lefty Carley Pickett has had at least one hit in 15 of the last 17 games.
• Pickett has had two or more hits in eight games this season, seven of those in the last 13 games. 
• Pickett had a stretch of reaching base safely in 16 straight games and a hitting streak of 13 straight games. 
• She is batting .330 on the year with two doubles, one triple and three home runs with 13 RBI.