ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Augustana University softball completed the sweep over the University of Nebraska-Kearney (0-8) with a 12-2 win in six innings in the second game of today's twinbill. Augustana finished the weekend 4-0 at the Kelly Laas Memorial Softball Tournament to improve to 5-4 on the year.

Game one
Augustana opened the day with a 4-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney getting a strong starting performance from Lexy Pederson (3-2) who picked up her third win of the season after allowing just one run on five hits while striking out six. Olivia Wolters pitched the bottom of the seventh inning and earned her second save of the season holding UNK off the board.
 
Shannon Petersen led the Vikings at the plate, picking up two of the Vikings' six hits, including a pair of doubles. Christina Pickett was 1 for 3 at the plate with a big two-run double in the bottom of the third.
 
Pederson pitched around a pair of two-out hits in the top of the first inning and the Viking offense rewarded her with a run in the home-half of the inning when Petersen delivered an RBI double to left center to score Kara McDougall, who started the inning off with a single, to give Augustana a 1-0 lead .
 
After a scoreless second, the Vikings added two runs on two hits in the bottom of the third to extend its lead to 3-0. Sarah Kennedy was hit by a pitch to start off the inning and Augustana put runners on second and third after Petersen's second double of the game. Two batters later, Pickett smacked a double to the gap in left center to give Pederson a three-run cushion headed to the fourth.
 
Pederson held UNK hitless in the fourth and fifth innings before the Lopers were able to plate a run on one hit and two Augustana errors in the top of the sixth to make the score 3-1. The Vikings got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Kylie Rome scored on a passed ball to push the lead back up to three at 4-1. Rome doubled with one out in the inning before moving up to third on a flyout by Samantha Eisenreich.
 
Wolters entered the circle in the top of the seventh with the opportunity to earn her second save of the season. She got two quick outs before allowing a single but got the last out on a line drive to second that hit the base-runner to end the inning and the game.
 
Game two
The Vikings used a five-run second inning in the second game against UNK to pull away and earn the 12-2 win. Augustana led 8-1 after three innings before scoring one in the fifth and three more in the six to put the eight-run rule into effect.
 
Sarah Kennedy and Maggie Kadrlik both picked up a pair of hits for the Vikings in game two. Kennedy was 2 for 3 with a double, a home run and threeRBI and Kadrlik finished 2 for 2 with a triple and two RBI.
 
Olivia Wolters (2-2) earned her second win of the season after tossing 3.0 innings and allowing just one unearned run on two hits while striking out two.
 
Augustana left the bases loaded in the top of the first inning but not before scoring a run on a solo home run by Kennedy with one out in the inning to give her team a 1-0 lead.
 
UNK got a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and plated an unearned run after a Viking error to tie the game at 1-1. The Vikings responded with five runs on five hits in the top of the second to regain the lead and go in front 6-1.
 
Kennedy delivered a two-RBI double to start the scoring and Christina Pickett followed with an RBI double to bring in another run. Kaylea Schorr drove in two runs with a single to give Augustana a five run lead.
 
With two outs in the top of the third inning, Augustana extended its lead to 8-1 on a two-RBI triple by Kadrlik. UNK pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 8-2 but the Vikings kept moving around the bases. Kara McDougall earned a one-out walk in the fifth before stealing second and coming around to score on a passed ball extending Augustana's lead to 9-2.
 
Augustana added three runs on two UNK errors in the top of the sixth to extend its lead to 12-2 and the Vikings closed-out the six-inning win to finish the weekend 4-0.
 
Augustana returns to action March 12-15 for its spring trip to Clermont, Florida. The Vikings open the eight-game trip against Wayne State (Mich.) on Sunday, March 12.