SIOUX FALLS – It looks like spring finally arrived, and just in time for the Augustana softball team to close out its regular season home schedule, albeit a day later than planned.
 
Scheduled to play Bemidji State on Saturday and Minnesota Crookston on Sunday, the No. 16 ranked Vikings, who return home with a 19-9 overall record and an 11-3 mark in the NSIC, moved the games to Sunday and Monday to give Bowden Field another day to dry.
 
Both doubleheaders begin at 11 a.m., starting with Bemidji State on Sunday. The Beavers, who lost a total of eight conference games due to weather, enter the weekend with a 15-19 overall record, and a 4-8 mark in the NSIC after splitting a doubleheader at home against Minnesota Crookston on Thursday; falling 10-7 in the opener and winning 7-6 in 12 innings in the nightcap.
 
The Golden Eagles, who play at Wayne State before coming to Augustana, entered the week with a 6-30 record overall, and a 2-12 record in the conference, with one of the wins coming on Thursday at Bemidji State, and the other over MSU Moorhead on March 30.
 
The Vikings moved from 21 to 16 in the latest NFCA Top-25 poll, and debuted at No. 4 in the first NCAA Division II Central Region ranking on Wednesday.
 
Following this week's action, Augustana plays at Sioux Falls on Wednesday, and then closes the regular season on the road next week at St. Cloud State and at Minnesota Duluth.