SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 4 seed Augustana University softball was eliminated from the NSIC Softball Tournament after a 5-3 loss to No. 2 seed Minnesota Duluth (34-14) on Friday afternoon at Sherman Park.
 
Augustana is now 35-19 on the season and will have to wait to for Monday, May 2 for the NCAA Selection Show to see if it earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Vikings were ranked 10th in the most recent NCAA Central Region rankings. The top eight teams will advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament.
 
Augustana finished the game with 10 hits but left eight runners on and was unable to overcome an early deficit. Carly Peterson led the Vikings at the plate against the Bulldogs finishing 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles to give her 20 on the season. Peterson is one of just five players in program history to record 20 or more doubles in a single season.
 
Carley Pickett was 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and Shannon Petersen finished the game going 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, as she hit her 14th home run of the season.
 
Augustana left a pair of runners on in the top of the first inning and that would come back to hurt the Vikings as Minnesota Duluth put up two runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Vikings broke through in the top of the third to cut the lead in half at 2-1. Peterson ripped her first double of the game with one out in the second and eventually came around to score on an RBI single by Sarah Kennedy.
 
Minnesota Duluth was able to extend its lead in the bottom of the third inning when Natalie Wright hit her second home run of the game, a two-run shot, that gave the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead.
 
Petersen led off the fourth inning with a single but the Vikings string of bad luck continued as Kaylea Schorr lined out to left field and Maddie Merriam bounced into a double play to end the threat and leave the leadoff runner on.
 
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 5-1 in the fourth inning but the Vikings responded with a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to get within two.
 
With two outs in the fifth inning, Peterson delivered her second double of the game and came around to score on an RBI single by Pickett.
 
Petersen made it a 5-3 game with her 14th home run of the season with one out in the sixth inning but the Vikings were unable to push any more across leaving a pair of runners on. Augustana threatened in the top of the seventh but UMD's Cayli Sadler was able to close-out the game without allowing a run to score to earn the save.
 
Augustana made its eighth straight NSIC Tournament appearance this season and is now 21-15 all-time in NSIC Tournament play.