ST. CLOUD, Minn. – After opening Friday with a 9-0, five inning no-hitter against Missouri Western State, the Augustana Softball team kept it rolling for its next two games; an 8-0, six inning win over Southwest Baptist and a 4-3 victory over Fort Hays State at the Kelly Laas Memorial Invite in St. Cloud, Minn.
 
The trio of wins makes it four-in-a-row, and gives the Vikings a 5-4 record heading into Saturday night's doubleheader with Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Playing as the home team, Augustana wasted little time in gaining an advantage, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a two-RBI double by Kaylea Schorr and an RBI single from Amber Elliott to put the Vikings up 5-0.
 
The Vikings got an unearned run in the second, and then another two-RBI hit from Schorr, this time a triple, in the sixth inning to end the game.
 
Elliott and Olivia Wolters handled the rest from the pitching circle, as the two combined for the one-hit shutout, with Elliott giving up the one hit, with three strikeouts and two walks in two innings. Wolters tossed for hitless innings, with one walk and four strikeouts to earn the victory.
 
The third game of the day saw the Vikings surrender their first runs, but still ended with an Augie win, thanks to a four-run fifth inning.
 
Trailing 1-0 entering the fifth, Ashley Mickschl opened the frame with a double, followed by singles from Schorr, Elliott and Christina Pickett, who pushed across the first two runs to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
 
Two batters later, Abbie Lund knocked in the final two runs for a 4-1 Augie lead, and even though Fort Hays State got one back in the bottom of the fifth and one more in the seventh, the Vikings stranded the tying run on second, securing the 4-3 win.
 
Lexy Pederson earned the win in the circle to improve to 3-0 on the season. She scattered six hits over four innings, with one walk and one strikeout. Elliott pitched the final three innings to earn her first-career save.
 
Augustana looks to build on its four game winning streak on Saturday with a pair of games against Nebraska-Kearney at 5:30 and 8 p.m. The Lopers split their two games on Friday, falling 7-6 to St. Cloud State and winning 10-4 over Sioux Falls.