BURNSVILLE, Minn. -- With the start of the 2019 season just 10 days away, the Augustana softball team is picked to finish second in the 2019 Northern Sun Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. Augustana, who collected four first-place votes, finished with 214 points. Winona State was picked first with 12 first-place votes and 222 points.            
                    
Augustana senior catcher Maggie Kadrlik, along with sophomore pitcher Ashley Mickschl, were named preseason softball players to watch by the NSIC. 

The Vikings are coming another phenomenal season on the diamond, including their eighth trip to the NCAA tournament in the last nine years. Although Augustana ultimately fell in the semifinals of the NCAA Central Region two championship, the Vikings still racked up more than 42 wins. Over the last four years, the Vikings are 170-71 (.710).

Led by 13th-year head coach Gretta Melsted, Augustana will return a number of key players to the diamond, starting with Kadrlik and Mickschl. A senior from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, Kadrlik will come back this season after a season-ending injury in 2018. In just nine games last year, she had a .363 average on 160 at-bats and drove in 34 RBI.

Two seasons ago, as a sophomore, Kadrlik earned All-NSIC First Team honors and was named to D2CCA All-America Honorable Mention team. She has a career hitting average of .399 in 96 games over three seasons, and her career base percentage of .489 ranks second in program history. 

Moving to the pitching circle, the Vikings return three-of-four pitchers from last season, including the reigning NSIC freshman of the year, Ashley Mickschl. The Minnesota native had an outstanding 2018 season, leading the Vikings with a 20-8 record including 31 starts and 17 complete games. She pitched a total of 179.2 innings and finished the season with 137 strikeouts and 53 walks. 

Offensively, Mickschl was a first-team All-NSIC selection and posted a team-high .429 batting average, with 79 hits in 184 at-bats, with 10 doubles, a triple, eight home runs, and 44 RBI. For her outstanding season, Mickschl was named the 39th NFCA All-American in Augustana history.

Sophomore pitcher Amber Elliott, Senior Shannon Petersen (C/INF), and senior Maggie Dunnett (P/INF) will also all make significant contributions throughout the 2019 season. 
    
Augustana will start off their 2019 season next week (Feb. 1) at the Arkansas Tech Winter Invitational. Over the course of four days, the Vikings will play eight games in Houston, Texas. The Vikings first game will be against Texas A&M International University on Feb. 1 at 10:30 a.m.
                                
The 2019 NSIC Softball Tournament will consist of the top ten teams in the NSIC final standings competing in a double elimination format on May 2-4 at the RYFSA Complex in Rochester, Minnesota.
 

2019 NSIC Preseason Softball Coaches Poll 

1.Winona State (12)................................. 222
2. Augustana (4)...................................... 214
3. Minnesota State……………………….. 180
4. Minnesota Duluth……………………... 179
5. Northern State…………………………. 168
6. St. Cloud State……………………….... 159
7. Concordia-St. Paul…………………….. 140
8. Sioux Falls……………………………….135
9. Minot State ……………………………...105
10. Southwest Minnesota State………….. 82
11. Upper Iowa………………………………79
12. Wayne State…………………………….73
13. University of Mary………………………68
14. Bemidji State…………………………….62
15. MSU Moorhead ………………………...36
16. Minnesota Crookston…………………..18

First place votes in ( )