TYLER, Texas – The third-ranked Augustana softball team concluded its Texas road trip Sunday with a 7-5 victory over No. 4 UT Tyler. Earlier in the day, the Vikings fell 9-6 to Texas Woman's.
 
The win over the fourth-ranked Patriots is the second win over a nationally-ranked opponent on the weekend for AU as the Vikings defeated Texas A&M – Commerce 6-1 Saturday.
 
Game 1: Texas Woman's 9, No. 3 Augustana 6
The Pioneers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning to set the tone for the game. Augustana got one of the runs back immediately in the bottom half with Mary Pardo's leadoff home run, her second of the season.
 
With TWU leading 7-1 in the third, Augustana was able to piece another run in the bottom half of the inning as Abbie Lund, who reached base on a single up the middle, scored on a passed ball.
 
Augustana then added a pair of runs in the fourth and sixth inning, each after TWU added a run of its own, which brought the final score to 9-6.
 
In the fourth, Amanda Dickmeyer scored on a bases-loaded walk by Kendall Cornick. The next at-bat, Ashley Mickschl singled in Lund for her second run of the game.
 
In the sixth, Torri Chute connected on her third home run of the season. The four-bagger also scored Pardo.
 
Amber Elliott was charged with her first loss of the season while Olivia Hazelbaker made her debut in the circle for three innings. The sophomore struck out three while allowing two hits.
 
Game 2: No. 3 Augustana 7, No. 4 UT Tyler 5
Augustana jumped out to a 6-0 lead through the first five and a half innings, allowing just a single hit. However, a five-run bottom of the sixth from the Patriots made things interesting over the final two innings.
 
The scoring started when Torri Chute reached base via error, allowing Kendall Cornick and Mary Pardo to score in the third inning. In the fifth inning, the Vikings hung four runs on the scoreboard to break open the game at 6-0.
 
All four runs were scored with two outs and started when Kennedy Buckman scored on an error with Amanda Dickmeyer batting. Gracey Brink the doubled in a pair of runs while Abbie Lund singled in Brink to conclude the scoring in the inning.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, UT Tyler flexed its muscles with two outs, scoring five runs. Up to that point, UTT had only tallied one hit in the game.
 
In the seventh, Augustana pushed an insurance run across the plate, a Dickmeyer double scoring Delaney Young.
 
UT Tyler again tried to put a rally together in the bottom of the seventh, but was unable to do so as Ashley Mickschl got Amanda Marek to ground out to third base with runners on second and third.
 
Mickschl moved to 2-1 on the season in the circle while giving up six hits over seven innings. She forced 14 groundouts in the game while striking out three.
 
In the box, Brink, Lund and Young each went 2-for-4 while five other hitters picked up a hit. Brink tallied two RBI with Lund, Dickmeyer and Chute each recording a run batted in as well.
 
Up Next
Augustana next has a couple of weeks off before traveling to St Joseph, Missouri for four games at the Missouri Western Classic. The Vikings will face Rogers State and Northwest Missouri State on Friday, March 19, then follow with Central Missouri and Emporia State on Saturday.