LAS VEGAS – Augustana University softball closed-out its five game trip to the Desert Stinger with a pair of losses on Saturday night. The Vikings lost a tough one-run affair, 7-6, to No. 4 West Texas A&M (4-0) before falling 10-1 in five innings to No. 2 Humboldt State University (4-0) late Saturday night.
 
The Vikings finished the weekend 1-4, losing three out of the five games by just one run.
 
Game one
Augustana four runs in the fifth and sixth innings but it would not be enough as the Vikings came up just short in a 7-6 loss to fourth-ranked West Texas A&M (4-0) on Friday night at the Desert Stinger.
 
West Texas A&M took a 4-0 lead just two innings into the game but the Vikings (1-3) kept punching back before falling just short.
 
Augustana finished with 10 hits as a team, getting three from Maggie Kadrlik, who finished 3 for 3 with two RBI. Sarah Kennedy and Shannon Petersen both picked up two hits and an RBI for Augustana.
 
Augustana left the bases loaded in the top of the first inning and it would end up hurting as West Texas A&M scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the first to break open a 3-0 lead.
 
The Lady Buffs added a run in the bottom of the second to extend their lead to 4-0. Maggie Dunnett worked out of the jam to leave a pair of runners on in the second and the Vikings got the bats going in the top of the third.
 
Kara McDougall led off the third beating out an infield single before Kennedy followed with a single. Two batters later, Kadrlik delivered an RBI double to score McDougall to make the score 4-1. Christina Pickett stepped up next and singled to right to cut the Lady Buffs' lead in half at 4-2 scoring Petersen on the play.
 
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Vikings made it a one run game in the top of the fifth. Petersen led off the inning with a double down the left field line before moving up to third on a single by Kadrlik. Pickett grounded out to third base and Kaylea Schorr drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Petersen and make it a 4-3 game.
 
West Texas A&M responded with three runs in the bottom half of the fifth scoring three runs on three hits and one error to push its lead up to four at 7-3. The Vikings would not go away quietly, responding with three runs in the sixth to make the score 7-6.
 
Samatha Eisenreich got the inning going when she earned a one-out walk. McDougall then reached on a fielding error to put runners on first and second. Kennedy singled up the middle to score Eisenreich and Petersen followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in McDougall to make it 7-5. Kadrlik then beat out an infield single to drive in Kennedy to get the Vikings within one at 7-6 before the Lady Buffs got out of the inning without any further damage.
 
Maggie Dunnett set the Lady Buffs down in order in the bottom of the sixth inning but the Vikings' bats also went silent in the top of the seventh and West Texas A&M escaped with the one-run win.
 
Game two
Humboldt State scored five runs in the top of the third and four more in the top of the fourth in a 10-1 five-inning win over Augustana on Saturday night.
 
The Vikings spread five hits across the board with Sarah Kennedy driving in the only run of the game in the bottom of the third.
 
Humboldt State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second as the Jacks were table to move around a leadoff single to score the game's first run.
 
Kaylea Schorr led off the home half of the second inning with a double but she would end up stranded at second base after a groundout and a pair of strikeouts.
 
Humboldt State then went off for five runs on three hits and an Augustana effort in the top of the third to push its lead to 6-0. The Jacks got a boost following two-out, three-run home run by Illa Haley.
 
Augustana plated its only run of the game in the bottom of the third to make the score 6-1. Samantha Eisenreich led off the third with an infield single and after she moved up to second on a groundout by Kadrlik, she came around to score on an RBI single by Kennedy.
 
Humbolt State strung together four more runs on three hits in the top of the fourth to extend its lead to 10-1 and the Vikings were unable to get the offense going and the Jacks nine run lead after five innings put the eight-run rule into effect.
 
Augustana returns to action Feb. 10-11 at the Kelly Laas Memorial Softball Invite hosted by St. Cloud State. The Vikings will play four games in St. Cloud, Minnesota, starting against Concordia-St. Paul on Friday, Feb. 10 at 3:30 p.m.