WAYNE, Neb. – Augustana University softball split its NSIC-opening series at Wayne State on Tuesday afternoon. The Vikings (14-10, 1-1 NSIC) won the opener 9-3 over the Wildcats (6-15, 1-1 NSIC) before dropping the finale 9-8.
 
Wayne State scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two to force the split.
 
Game one
Augustana scored four runs in the first two innings on its way to a 9-3 win over Wayne State in game one on Tuesday afternoon. The Vikings finished the game with 13 hits, including five doubles and a home run.
 
Sarah Kennedy and Carly Peterson each doubled twice in game one for the Vikings. Kennedy was 3 for 5 with four RBI and Peterson finished 2 for 4 with an RBI and three runs scored.
 
Maggie Kadrlik finished 1 for 3 with a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning. Abby Chandler and Carley Pickett also each had two hits in the game for the Vikings.
 
Kennedy drove in the game's first run on a ground out in the first inning to score Peterson, who led off the game with a double, giving Augustana a 1-0 lead. The Vikings added three more in the top of the second. Katie Parker extended Augustana's lead to 2-0 when she drove in a run on a ground out.
 
Later in the inning, Kennedy delivered a two-RBI double to put the Vikings in front 4-0.
 
Wayne State got a pair of runs in the home half of the second inning to cut Augustana's lead in half but the Vikings responded with three runs on four hits in the top of the fourth to push their lead to 7-2. The Wildcats plated another run in the fourth but Kadrlik blasted her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot, that gave Augustana a 9-3 lead.
 
Karlee Koopman came in to pitch the final two innings and allowed just one hit and no runs to help the Vikings earn their first conference win of the 2016 season. Pickett earned the win and improved to 8-4 on the season. Pickett tossed 5.0 innings and struck out three while allowing three runs on five hits.
 
Game two
Wayne State finished the game with 17 hits and scored all nine of its runs in the final four innings, including four in the bottom of the seventh to win game two 9-8 over the Vikings.
 
Augustana held a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning before the Widlcats were able to chip away at the lead before taking it over in the final inning.
 
Maggie Kadrlik hit her second home run of the day, a grand slam in the top of the third inning that gave her team an early 4-0 lead.
 
The Vikings added a run in the top of the fourth to go in front 5-0 and after Wayne State scored in the home half of the fourth, Kaylea Schorr hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth putting Augustana in front 6-1.
 
WSC got three runs on four hits in the bottom of the fifth inning but the Vikings had an answer again in the sixth. Kennedy drove in a run with a double to left center to score Peterson who led off the inning with a walk. Later in the inning, Schorr beat out an infield single to drive in another and give Augustana an 8-4 lead.
 
Shelby Wobken hit a solo home run for Wayne State in the bottom of the sixth to make it a three-run game and the Wildcats rallied for four more in the bottom of the sixth, winning the game on a walk-off single by Emily Chandler that allowed WSC to escape with a 9-8 win.
 
Augustana will now travel to North Dakota for a pair of doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday. The Vikings were originally scheduled to play Minot State and U-Mary on Friday and Saturday but both days were moved up one due to the weather forecast.
 
Augustana and Minot State will play a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. on Thursday, March 24 before traveling to Bismarck, N.D. to take on U-Mary in a doubleheader at 12 p.m. on Friday.