DULUTH, Minn. – Augustana University softball lost a pair of one-run heartbreakers in Sunday's doubleheader at Minnesota Duluth. The Bulldogs defeated the Vikings 8-7 in eight innings in game one before taking game two 6-5 to hand Augustana (31-14, 18-5 NSIC) its third straight loss.
 
Game one
Augustana took a 7-5 lead in the top of the eighth inning but Minnesota Duluth answered with three in the home half of the eighth to earn an 8-7 win over the Vikings.
 
Augustana had 10 hits in the opener, led by Carly Peterson who finished 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI. Sarah Kennedy was 2 for 3 and Shannon Petersen finished 2 for 4 with a home run. Abby Chandler also added a pair of hits for the Vikings finishing 2 for 4 with a run scored.
 
Carley Pickett was tagged with the loss for the Vikings dropping her record to 19-7 on the season. Pickett allowed eight runs, six earned, while striking out four.
 
Peterson led off the game with a single up the middle and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Pickett to get into scoring position early. Kennedy followed Pickett with a single to left center and the Vikings had runners on the corners. Kennedy stole second base and Maggie Kadrlik was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
 
Petersen then stepped to the plate and blasted her 11th home run of the season, a grand slam that gave Augustana a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.
 
The Vikings held the four-run lead all the way into the fifth inning until the Bulldogs were able to string together five runs on six hits to take a 5-4 lead.
 
Augustana tied the game in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Kennedy that scored Peterson who led off the inning with a double to right center. Kennedy then singled up the middle to tie the game at 5-5.
 
Pickett allowed a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh but picked up a strikeout to end the inning and send the game into extra innings. Augustana scored two runs in the top of the eighth getting back-to-back RBI singles from Peterson and Pickett to take a 7-5 lead but the Bulldogs answered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, scoring the game-winning run on a wild pitch to earn an 8-5 win in the opener.
 
Game two
Augustana pushed across a run in the top of the seventh to get within one, but would eventually leave the bases loaded in a 6-5 loss in game two.
 
Carley Pickett led the Vikings at the plate in the nightcap finishing 4 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Shannon Petersen was 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI helping the Vikings scatter 12 hits.
 
Augustana was able to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the third. Peterson led off the inning with her team-leading 18th double of the season. Pickett followed with a bunt single and Kennedy singled to drive in Peterson. Maggie Kadrlik made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly and Petersen singled to drive in the third run of the inning.
 
The Bulldogs answered right back in the home half of the third scoring three runs on three wild pitches to tie the game.
 
Augustana was able to regain the lead in the top of the fourth getting a two-out RBI single from Pickett that gave the Vikings a 4-3 lead. The Bulldogs answered right back in the bottom half of the inning scoring two runs on two hits and two Augustana errors to take a 5-4 lead.
 
UMD plated another run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth to take a two-run lead at 6-4 and the Vikings went down quietly in the sixth.
 
Kadrlik and Petersen started off the seventh with a pair of singles and Kaylea Schorr walked to load the bases with nobody out. Maddie Merriam bounced into a fielder's choice before Kylie Rome pinch-hit for Morgan Beaner and walked to drive in a run to get Augustana within one at 6-5. UMD's Cayli Sadler was able to get her team out of the jam leaving the bases loaded.
 
Augustana will play its final regular season road game of the 2016 season on Wednesday, April 20, taking on Winona State in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. in Winona, Minnesota.