LEESBURG, Fla. – Augustana University softball opened its spring trip with a pair of games in Leesburg, Florida on Sunday morning. The Vikings went 0-2 on day one, falling 6-1 to No. 22 Wayne State (Mich.) and 8-2 to Slippery Rock (Pa.).
 
The Vikings are now 5-6 on the season and will return to action with a pair of games Monday evening.
 
Game one
Wayne State combined for six runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pick up a 6-1 win over Augustana in the first game of the day. The Vikings led 1-0 in the top of the second before the Warriors picked up two runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth.
 
Lexy Pederson (3-3) was the pitcher of record for the Vikings after allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits in 5.2 innings pitched. Lyndsay Butler (8-4) earned the win for the Warriors picking up seven strikeouts on the day.
 
Augustana finished with six hits in the opener, getting a pair of hits from Kylie Rome. The Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, plating an unearned run with two outs. Shannon Petersen reached on an error to lead off the inning and came around to score on an RBI single by Samantha Eisenreich.
 
Pederson held the WSU scoreless for four innings before the Warriors broke through to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth. The Warriors did all of their damage with two outs in the inning.
 
Peterson reached with one out in the top of the sixth inning to start a rally and Kaylea Schorr reached on an error, but the Vikings ended up leaving two runners on to end the inning.
 
Wayne State scored four runs on three hits and a Viking error in the bottom of the sixth to go in front 6-1 headed to the final inning. Abby Chandler reached on an error with one out in the inning and Sarah Kennedy delivered a two-out single, but the Vikings would leave two runners on and the Warriors picked up the win.
 
Game two
Slippery Rock held Augustana to five hits in an 8-2 win over the Vikings in the nightcap. Kaylea Schorr went 2 for 3 with a double for the Vikings in the loss.
 
Olivia Wolters got the start in the circle and struck out six batters in four innings of work. Maggie Dunnett (0-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs on six hits in three innings of work.
 
Slippery Rock took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a leadoff home run before extending its lead to 2-0 with an unearned run in the top of the third. Augustana tied the game in the bottom of the fourth getting an RBI double from Christina Pickett and an RBI single from Schorr to knot the score at 2-2.
 
Slippery Rock put together a three-run, two-out rally in the top of the fifth to take a 5-2 lead and added two more two-out runs in the bottom of the sixth to push its lead to 7-2. The Rock added a run in the top of the seventh to push its lead to 8-2.
 
Augustana loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but left the sacks full when Kara McDougall grounded out to end the game.
 
The Vikings return to action on Monday with a pair of games in Clermont, Florida. Augustana will play Millersville at 5 p.m. (CT) and Saint Michael's at 7:30 p.m. (CT).