Softball | 3/9/2017 10:55:00 AM

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana University softball returns to action after a month-long hiatus with an eight-game trip to the Sunshine State for its annual spring trip. The Vikings will play eight games over four days, starting on Sunday, March 12.
 
Augustana beings play at 9:30 a.m. (CT) on Sunday against No. 22 Wayne State (Mich.) in Leesburg, Fla. The Vikings will then play Slippery Rock at 12 p.m. Sunday before playing its next six games in Clermont.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Augustana went 4-0 at the Kelly Laas Memorial Softball Invite last weekend to improve to 5-4 on the season
• The Vikings opened the weekend with a 7-6 win in extra innings over Concordia-St. Paul
• Augustana won by the international tiebreaker rule after starting out with a runner on second in the top of the eighth
• Abby Chandler scored the game-winning run on a passed ball and the Vikings held off the Golden Bears in the bottom of the eighth
• Later that day, Augustana scored a season-high 13 runs in a 13-0 win in five innings over Viterbo
• Augustana then played two games against Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, earning a sweep of the Lopers to finish 4-0 on the weekend
• The Vikings won the opener 4-1 before picking up a 12-2 win in six innings in game two
• Augustana scored 36 runs while allowing just nine on the weekend
• The Vikings hit 14 doubles as a team and batted .380
 
VIKINGS PICKED FOURTH IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL
• Augustana University softball earned 187 points and was picked to finish fourth in the 2017 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll
• Minnesota State earned 15 of 16 first-place votes and was picked to win the league for the third time
• Minnesota Duluth earned the other first-place vote (coaches cannot vote for their own team) and was picked second
• Winona State, Augustana, Sioux Falls, Wayne State, Upper Iowa and Bemidji State rounded-out the top-half of the league
 
KADRLIK NAMED NSIC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• For the third straight season the preseason player of the year in the NSIC is from Augustana
• Maggie Kadrlik was selected by the league's coaches as the 2017 NSIC Preseason Player of the Year
• Kadrlik joins Sarah Kennedy (2016) and Jenelle Trautmann (2015) as a Viking to be selected preseason player of the year by the NSIC's coaches
• Kadrlik was an All-NSIC First Team selection as a sophomore in 2016
• She was also named D2CCA?All-Central Region First Team and All-Central Region Second Team by the NFCA last season
• Kadrlik went on to earn D2CCA?All-America Honorable Mention honors
• She started all 54 games last season and led the team with a .412 batting average
• Kadrlik finished the year with an NSIC-high 17 home runs and 62 RBI, which ranked second in the NSIC
• Kadrlik added 10 doubles and had two or more hits in 21 games in 2016
 
KENNEDY NAMED TO NFCA PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
• For the second straight season, Augustana's Sarah Kennedy finds herself on the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II?National Player of the Year Watch List
• Kennedy is one of just 50 players in the country to be selected to the preseason watch list
• Kennedy is a three-time All-NSIC First Team selection entering her senior season
• She has been named to the player of the year watch list in two straight seasons after being a finalist for the NCAA Division II?National Player of the Year award as a sophomore in 2015
• Kennedy has started every single game of her carerer (179) at shortstop for the Vikings
• She enters her senior season with a career batting average of .418 which ranks third all-time at Augustana
• She ranks fourth all-time in home runs (36) and seventh with 159 RBI
• Kennedy set a single season record in 2015 with 25 doubles
• She enters her senior year ranked seventh all-time at Augustana with 45 career doubles
• Kennedy batted .403 with 14 doubles and nine home runs last season
 
KENNEDY OFF TO A FAMILIAR START
• Senior shortstop Sarah Kennedy has had a strong start to her senior season
• Kennedy has hit safely in all eight games played this season, extending her hitting streak to 15 games
• Kennedy ended the 2016 season on a seven-game hitting streak
• Her longest career hitting streak is 24 games which she set as a sophomore in 2015
• Kennedy also put together a 23-game hitting streak during her sophomore season
 
KENNEDY ON THE CAREER ACTIVE LEADERS LIST
• Sarah Kennedy ranks high in nearly every offensive statistical category on the career active leaders list in all of NCAA softball
• Kennedy has the second-most hits of all active NCAA Division II?players and the fourth-most amongst all NCAA players across all three divisions
• Kennedy has 261 career hits, which ranks eighth all-time at Augustana
• Kennedy has hit 50 doubles in her career, which is the fourth-most amongst active Division II?players and the sixth-most amongst players across all three divisions
• Kennedy ranks seventh all-time at Augustana in doubles
• Her 37 career home runs ranks 12th amongst active Division II?players and her career .422 batting average ranks 17th amongst active Division II?players
 
PETERSEN PRIMED FOR SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN
• Sophomore Shannon Petersen had a strong first season for the Vikings in 2016
• Petersen earned All-NSIC First Team honors last season before being named to the D2CCA?All-Central Region Second Team
• Petersen played in 52 games, making 50 starts both at third base and catcher
• She batted .345 with 71 hits, including 14 home runs and eight doubles
• Petersen ranked third on the team with 45 RBI and compiled a .643 slugging percentage
• Petersen is batting .393 with three doubles and a home run in 2017
 
IN THE CIRCLE
• Augustana has used three different pitchers on rotation in the 2017 season
• Lexy Pederson has made five appearances and four starts on the season for the Vikings
• Pederson owns a 2.14 ERA?and a 3-2 record
• Pederson has struck out 19 batters in 19.2 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .274 batting average
• Freshman Olivia Wolters has made eight appearances and five stars in 2017
• Wolters is 2-2 on the year with a team-high two saves
• She has struck out 18 batters in 22.1 innings pitched
• Maggie Dunnett has made five appearances this season and owns a 3.27 ERA