EMPORIA, Kan. – A streak that started in Texas, moved to Minnesota and through Florida, now reaches into Kansas, as the Augustana softball team picked up a pair of wins on Friday, downing Pittsburg State 15-4 in 5 innings, before beating Emporia State in the nightcap, 7-4, for the Vikings 16th consecutive win.
 
The wins move the Vikings to 17-4 on the season heading into the second day of the Emporia State Softball Classic on Saturday. The loss dropped the Gorillas to 10-18, while the Hornets fall to 9-15.
 
The Vikings pounded-out 18 hits in the opener against Pittsburg State, led by true freshman Ashley Mickschl, who posted a perfect day at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a pair of RBI, three stolen bases and four runs scored.
 
Another true freshman, Amber Elliott, got thing started with a two-RBI single in the second to give Augustana a 2-0 lead, a lead the blew up to 8-0 after a six-run third inning.
 
The Vikings got RBI hits from Mickschl, Kaylea Schorr, Elliott, Kendall Cornick and Abbie Lund in the third inning to go up 8-0, and even though the Gorillas got two back in the bottom of the third, Augie got a Kara McDougall RBI single in the fourth to go up 9-2, and then added four more in the fifth to secure the win.
 
A Maggie Kadrlik double and a Mickschl single both knocked in runs, and then Elliott doubled home the final two in the frame for a 13-2 Vikings lead into the bottom of the fifth.
 
Mickschl took care of the rest to complete two no-hit innings of relief, where she struck out five and walked none. Lexy Pederson got the win to remain perfect on the season at 6-0. She gave up two runs on four hits over three innings with a pair of strikeouts.
 
Down 2-0 into the second inning against Emporia State, Christina Pickett singled home Kadrlik to get the Vikings on the board, but the Hornets got that one back, plus one more in the third inning to take a 4-1 lead into the fourth.
 
Cornick doubled home a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 4-3, a Kadrlik single allowed Shannon Petersen to score and tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth and a Mickschl RBI double put the Vikings up for good at 5-4 in the next at bat.
 
Just for good measure, Mickschl added a two-run homer in the seventh to put Augie up 7-4 and salt away the win.

The Vikings return to action on Saturday with two games on the slate, starting with Missouri Southern State at 12 p.m., with a game against Northeastern State to follow at 4 p.m.