SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 12 Augustana softball extended its win streak to 16 games with a sweep over the University of Sioux Falls in a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Bowden Field. The Vikings (33-5, 14-0 NSIC) won the opener 10-0 in five innings before winning the nightcap 8-4 over the visiting Cougars (18-14, 4-8 NSIC).
 
Augustana opened the day holding USF to just two hits in game one, recording its 10th victory by the eight-run rule this season.
 
Game one
Jenelle Trautmann won her 20th game of the season in the circle, striking out nine batters while allowing just one hit, a single in the top of the third inning. Trautmann has struck out nine or more batters in six of her last seven starts.
 
Seven different players had at least one of Augustana's 10 hits in game one. Carley Pickett, Sarah Kennedy and Jenelle Tratumann each had two hits in the opener. Nichol was 1 for 1 with her 10th home run of the season. Pickett finished 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI and Trautmann finished 2 for 2 with two doubles and an RBI.
 
Jordan Schaffer went 1 for 2 with a home run and two RBI and Kennedy drilled her ninth home run of the season while going 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Kennedy also extended her hit streak to 18 games in the opener.
 
Augustana came out roaring in the bottom of the first inning scoring five runs on four hits jumping out to an early lead. The Vikings got two runners on quickly after Nichol was hit by a pitch and Pickett singled on a bunt. On Pickett's bunt single, the USF third baseman made an errant throw to first base allowing Nichol to move up to third. Kennedy drove in the game's first run with a single through the right side of the infield to score Nichol.
 
Trautmann then delivered a two-RBI double to left center to put the Vikings in front 2-0. Carly Peterson drove in another run on a ground out to second base and Schaffer followed with a two-run shot to left center that put Augustana in front 5-0.
 
Trautmann struck out the side in the top of the second and the offense got back to work in the home half of the inning. Nichol sent her 10th home run of the season over the fence in left center to put Augustana in front 6-0. Two batters and one out later, Kennedy lifted her ninth home run of the season over the fence in left center making the score 7-0.
 
USF got its first hit of the game in the top of the third on a bloop single but Trautmann would strike out the side in the inning to end the threat. The Vikings then put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the third to extend the lead to 9-0. Maddie Merriam kept the third alive with a two-out double and came around to score on an RBI single by Kylie Rome. Pickett made it 9-0 with an RBI double that scored Abby Chandler who pinch ran for Rome.
 
After another 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, the Vikings went ahead 10-0 when Karlee Koopman drove in a run on a groundout.
 
The Cougars got a leadoff single in the top of the fifth but Koopman, who came into the game to pitch in relief of Trautmann, stranded a runner on third as the Vikings would win game one 10-0.
 
Game two
Augustana's offense got the team off to a fast start once again in the nightcap, with seven of the eight runs scored in the first two innings. The Vikings finished the game with 12 hits and had nine different players with a hit.
 
Pickett had two more hits in the nightcap, going 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI. Kennedy waited until her last at-bat of the night but she was able to extend her hitting streak to 19 games going 1 for 4 with a single.
 
Trautmann picked up two more hits in game two, finishing 2 for 3 with two singles, an RBI and a run scored. Carly Peterson was 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBI.
 
Pickett improved her record to 9-3 in the circle earning the win for the Vikings. Pickett struck out three batters and allowed seven hits and four runs, one earned, in four innings of work. Trautmann pitched three innings in relief, striking out six to earn her first save of the year.
 
The Vikings took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Peterson drilled a three-run home run over the fence in right center. The pitching staff continued to do what it has all season long, get the offense back to the plate after Pickett set the Cougars down in order in the top of the second.
 
Nichol put the Vikings up 4-0 with an RBI double down the left field line that scored Merriam who got on base with a walk before moving up to second on Rome's single. Pickett then helped her own cause with a sharp double to left center to drive in two more giving herself a 6-0 lead. Trautmann then drove in Pickett with an RBI single to right center pushing the lead to seven.
 
The Cougars started to chip away in the top of the third, scoring two unearned runs on a dropped fly ball to make the score 7-2. USF added two more in the fourth to get within three at 7-4.
 
USF threatened in the top of the fifth getting back-to-back singles to start the inning. On the second single, the runners were able to move up to second and third after the ball took a wicked bounce in left field. Trautmann came into the game to pitch for Pickett and struck out two and got a ground ball out to end the threat and keep the lead at three.
 
Schaffer led off the bottom of the fifth with a double and Erin Kempf, who pinch-ran for Schaffer, would score the eighth and final run of the game for the Vikings on an RBI single by Merriam putting Augustana up 8-4.
 
Trautmann set the Cougars down in order in the sixth and seventh innings, striking out four of the last six batters she faced.
 
Augustana will now hit the road for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. The Vikings open a four-game trip with a twinbill at Minnesota Crookston on Saturday at 1 p.m. Augustana will then head to Bemidji, Minn. to take on Bemidji State at 12 p.m. on Sunday.