CANYON, Texas – The Augustana softball team scored first in both games on Thursday at No. 13 West Texas A&M, but the Lady Buffs scored last in both of them, both in walk-off fashion, handing the Vikings a 9-8 and a 5-1 loss in the first two games of the West Texas A&M Invitational.
 
The first Vikings batter of the season, freshman Kendall Cornick, smacked a single in her first collegiate at-bat, advanced to second in the next at-bat, made it to third on a passed ball, and then scored on a Kylie Rome single that gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead to start the season.
 
Augustana made it 4-0 in the third, when a Maggie Dunnett infield single, coupled with a WT error, allowed both Maggie Kadrlik and Shannon Petersen to score for a 3-0 Vikings lead. An Amber Elliott RBI groundout in the next at-bat made it 4-0 Augie.
 
The Lady Buffs got one back in the bottom of the third, added two more in the fifth and two in the sixth inning to take a 5-4 lead into the top of the seventh.
 
Cornick and Lund both singled to start the seventh, setting up Rome, who knocked Lund home to tie the game at 5-all. Kadrlik followed with an RBI groundout that gave Augie a 6-5 lead, before Petersen punctuated the inning with the team's first longball of the season, a two-run blast to left that put the Vikings up 8-4 heading into the final frame.
 
Unfortunately for the Vikings though, the Lady Buffs erupted for four runs of their own to secure the 9-8 walk-off win.
 
The second game started much like the first, when Lund belted a single, promptly stole second and then scored on a Rome single to give the Vikings an early 1-0 lead, a lead that would last until the sixth inning, when the Lady Buffs plated the tying run.
 
Unable to capitalize on a Kaylea Schorr single to open the seventh, WT loaded the bases in its half of the seventh, setting the stage for Kylee Moore to hit a game-ending grand slam to complete the doubleheader sweep for the Lady Buffs.
 
The Vikings look to get into the win column on Friday, when they take on Regis at noon, followed by a final game against West Texas A&M at 2 p.m. Augie closes the tournament with two more against Regis on Saturday.