MANKATO, Minn. – Augustana University softball dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader at No. 21 Minnesota State, Mankato. The Mavericks (26-4, 4-0 NSIC) won the opener 4-0 behind a nine-strikeout performance from pitcher Coley Ries and used a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth in game two to defeat the Vikings (17-9, 2-2 NSIC) 5-3 in the nightcap.
 
Game one
Coley Ries struck out nine and earned the complete-game shutout for Minnesota State, Mankato in a 4-0 win over the Vikings in game one. Augustana put six hits on the board but stranded seven runners on base, unable to plate a run in the contest.
 
Shannon Petersen led the Vikings at the plate in the opener, going 2 for 3 with a double, picking up Augustana's lone extra-base hit of the game.
 
Lexy Pederson (9-4) was tagged with the loss in the circle after allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings of work.
 
Kaylea Schorr led off the game with a single to left field for the Vikings but she would end up stuck at second base with two outs in the inning before Ries got a strikeout to end Augustana's threat.
 
Minnesota State got a leadoff triple in the first but the Pederson was able to strand the runner at third as the Vikings turned a double play to end the inning on the Mavericks.
 
The Mavericks put up a run on three hits in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead but Pederson held MSU at bay, stranding two more runners. Augustana had two hits in the next three innings, including Petersen's two-out double in the fourth, but was unable to push a runner past second while MSU extended its lead to 4-0 with a run in the third and two more in the fifth.
 
Ries got two quick outs in the sixth, on just six pitches, before Christina Pickett and Petersen started a rally with back-to-back singles. Kylie Rome was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for Kara McDougall, who popped out to short to end the inning.
 
Abby Chandler led off the seventh with a single after a long battle with Ries, but the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year got a pair of strikeouts and a lineout to end Augustana's threat and game one of the twinbill.
 
Game two
Augustana held a 3-1 lead headed into the bottom of the fifth inning before MSU's Ashley Thell delivered a grand slam that put the Mavericks in front 5-3, a lead which MSU would maintain to earn the doubleheader sweep.
 
Libby Bemis (13-2) earned the win for MSU in the circle while allowing three runs on three this. Ries picked up her first save of the season pitching the final two innings for MSU.
 
Augustana hit a pair of early home runs to gain an early lead in the game, but was unable to add to its lead later in the game. Sarah Kennedy (1 for 1) hit her team-leading seventh home run of the season while Shannon Petersen belted a two-run shot for her third homer of the year.
 
The Vikings jumped on the board first in the nightcap, using the long ball to take an early advantage. Petersen blasted a two-run home run to left center in the top of the first inning to give Augustana a 2-0 lead and with one out in the third, Sarah Kennedy belted a solo shot to left field to make it 3-0.
 
Minnesota State plated an unearned run in the home half of the third inning when Alyssa Rickels stole third and came around to score on a throwing error on the play, cutting Augustana's lead to two at 3-1.
 
The Mavericks took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when Ashley Thell hit a one-out grand slam, putting her team in front 5-3.
 
Ries entered the game in the top of the sixth inning and shut the Vikings down, getting six straight outs, to help MSU earn the doubleheader sweep.
 
Augustana returns to action on Sunday, April 2, taking on Concordia-St. Paul in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota.