EMPORIA, Kan. – The No. 3 Augustana softball team earned a sweep on Saturday in the Emporia Edition of the Missouri Western Classic. Augustana topped No. 23 Central Oklahoma 10-8 and followed with a 6-2 win over Emporia State.
 
With the sweep, Augustana improves to 6-2 on the season. Central Oklahoma falls to 12-5 while ESU is 10-5 on the year.
 
Over the course of the day, Torri Chute collected five hits and five RBI while Kendall Cornick was 4-for-8 with three RBI.
 
Game One: No. 3 Augustana 10, No. 23 Central Oklahoma 8; 8 innings
Trailing 1-0 in the third inning, the Vikings' bats came alive in a two-out rally. Taking a full count, Kendall Cornick singled up the middle and promptly stole second base. After Ashley Mickschl worked a walk, Torri Chute singled right back up the middle scoring Cornick from second to knot the game at one.
 
The very next hitter, Abby Lien, doubled into left field where she scored both Mickschl and Chute to give AU the 3-1 advantage.
 
A lengthy bottom of the fourth inning put the Vikings in a hole as the Bronchos put a five-spot on the scoreboard. Back-to-back singles knotted the game at three before a double by Brighton Gilbert cleared the bases for a 6-3 UCO lead.
 
Cornick answered back in the top of the sixth with a solo homerun into left-center field. The fireworks came in the top of the seventh, when Abbie Lund opened the inning with a single into left field. With Lund on second and Cornick on first after being hit by a pitch, Mickschl singled and scored Lund.
 
The tying run came in the next at-bat as Chute was at the plate. She hit to the second basemen, who tried to throw Cornick out at home, but was ruled safe, knotting the game at six each.
 
Mickschl gave up a hit in the bottom half but no damage was done to force the additional inning.
 
In the eighth, Delaney Young was placed on second base as part of the international tie-break rule. She was pushed to third on an Amanda Dickmeyer bunt. Dickmeyer then stole second. Both scored on a single into right field by Gracey Brink.
 
The scoring continued as Brink was plated on a triple from Lund and the 9-6 lead. Cornick picked up her third hit and second RBI of the day when she singled in Lund for the 10-6 score.
 
Mickschl pitched all eight innings to earn her third victory of the season.
 
Game Two: No. 3 Augustana 6, Emporia State 2
Augustana jumped on the scoreboard in the second inning with a solo home run into left center from the bat of Torri Chute, her fourth four-bagger of the season. However, the Hornets answered right back in the bottom of the second with a run of their own.
 
ESU then took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, scratching a run across the plate with two outs.
 
Much like the second inning, the one-run lead didn't hold for long as the Vikings answered right back in the top of the fourth. It was Chute again producing the offense, this time scoring Ashley Mickschl who was standing on third base thanks to a leadoff triple.
 
In the sixth and seventh innings, the offense exploded for AU as the Vikings put two runs across in each inning. In the sixth, Chute, again, produced offense, this time a double scoring Mickschl. The next hitter, Abby Lien, doubled into left center scoring Chute.
 
To leadoff the seventh, Amber Elliott sent a solo home run into left center. A few batters later, Kendall Cornick singled up the middle scoring Amanda Dickmeyer for the commanding 6-2 lead.
 
Elliot shutdown the Hornets in the bottom of the seventh for her third win of the season. She struck out five while giving up just the two runs.
 
Up Next
Augustana plays the same schedule on Sunday with a 10 a.m. first pitch against UCO and 2 p.m. first pitch against Emporia State. Coverage can be found at GoAugie.com/Live.