EMPORIA, Kan. – Augustana softball moved to 4-0 on the weekend after toppling No. 23 Central Oklahoma 4-3 and Emporia State 5-3 Sunday. The Vikings, ranked third in the nation, move to 8-2 on the season. Central Oklahoma falls to 13-6 while Emporia State, the host of the weekend, falls to 10-7.
 
Over the course of the day, Mary Pardo went 4-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI while Kendall Cornick tallied four hits in eight at-bats while tallying three runs scored.
 
Game One: No. 3 Augustana 4, No. 23 Central Oklahoma 3
It was a walk-off win for the Vikings in the bottom of the seventh, pushing two runs across the plate to capture the victory. With the Vikings trailing 3-2, Mary Pardo led the inning off with a double to left field and she advanced to third base on a single by Kendall Cornick.
 
The next batter, Ashley Mickschl, hit a fielder's choice which scored Pardo. Pardo slid under the attempted tag to knot the game at three each.
 
With runners on first and third, the Bronchos intentionally walked the bases loaded with no outs to set up the force at each plate. That led to Abby Lien's at-bat where she made contact, hitting between the pitcher's circle and third base. The third baseman had a throwing error trying to stop Cornick from scoring at home. Cornick was safe on the throwing error, giving the Vikings the win.
 
Trailing 1-0 through the first two and a half innings, the Vikings knotted things up at 1-1 when Abbie Lund scored on a groundout from Mickschl. The Vikings then took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth when Torri Chute hit a sac fly to left field, scoring Pardo.
 
Central Oklahoma took a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh, forcing the dramatic walk-off victory.
 
Amber Elliott picked up her fourth victory in the circle, striking out nine and giving up the three runs.
 
Pardo was 3-for-3 from the plate with two runs scored while Mickschl was 1-for-4 but had two RBI.
 
Game Two: No. 3 Augustana 5, Emporia State 3
Other than a brief tie in the third inning, the Vikings led start-to-finish to close out the weekend in Emporia 4-0. Torri Chute reached on a fielder's choice in the top of the first which scored Kendall Cornick. At the top of the second, Amanda Dickmeyer was pushed home thanks to a single from Mary Pardo.
 
The Hornets knotted things up at two in the bottom of the third on a home run.
 
That score would not hold as Delaney Young, who reached base on a single into right field and pushed around to third base thanks to singles from Gracey Brink and Abbie Lund, scored on a sac fly from Pardo.
 
A fourth run was scored for the Vikings in the fifth inning as Chute scored on a single from Dickmeyer.
 
Emporia State scratched one more run across the plate in the bottom of the fifth but Augustana added its own insurance run in the top of the sixth thanks to Chute who singled home Cornick for the 5-3 score, which proved to be the final score of the game.
 
Ashley Mickschl picked up her fourth win of the season while pitching all seven innings, giving up six hits and three runs.
 
Cornick and Dickmeyer each went 2-for-4 in the game while Cornick tallied the two runs scored.
 
Up Next
The Vikings remain on the road for a doubleheader on Monday at Missouri Southern. The doubleheader marks the first straight doubleheader of the season for AU. The first pitch in Joplin, Missouri, is slated for noon with action viewed at GoAugie.com/Live.