ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Augustana softball team went 2-1 on Saturday to earn runner-up honors in the NSIC Tournament taking place in Rochester, Minnesota. Augustana won its first game of the day 4-3 over No. 23 Winona State. Playing immediately in game one of the NSIC Championship, the Vikings topped No. 17 Minnesota State 5-0. The winner-take-all championship game was played after that with the Vikings falling 4-2.
 
At the conclusion of the tournament, Kendall Cornick, Abby Lien, Abbie Lund and Mary Pardo were named to the NSIC All-Tournament Team.
 
Augustana's record sits at 44-6 overall and the Vikings will await the final seeding for the NCAA Championships which will be announced Sunday at 9 p.m.
 
Game One: No. 1 Augustana 4, No. 23 Winona State 3
It was a sixth-inning home run off the bat of Mary Pardo that gave the Vikings the 4-3 lead that would hold for the final score. With the scoreboard showing a 3-3 score, Pardo sent a home run sailing over the left-field fence for her NSIC leading 18^th home run of the season.
 
To get to that point, the Vikings held a 1-0 advantage after the first inning when Torri Chute singled in Kendall Cornick. However, that lead was short-lived as Winona State ran three runs across the plate in the second for a 3-1 lead.
 
In the bottom of the third, the Vikings knotted things up at three-all. It was first Cornick crossing the plate, this time on a groundout to the pitcher by Chute. A batter later, Abby Lien found the bottom of the grass beyond left field for her 10^th home run of the season.
 
The 3-3 score would hold until Pardo's heroics in the sixth inning as Ashley Mickschl earned her 24^th win of the season. Mickschl scattered eight hits for the three runs and struck out seven batters for the complete-game victory.
 
Cornick concluded the game 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and a walk. Pardo also recorded two hits on a 2-for-4 game as the Vikings totaled seven hits overall.
 
Game Two: No. 1 Augustana 5, No. 17 Minnesota State 0
The Vikings jumped out of the gates in this one, as the first five batters reached base. Mary Pardo singled into left field and advanced to third base after Kendall Cornick doubled into right field.
 
That's when starting pitcher Amber Elliott stepped to the plate and simply hit a single into left field to score Pardo. Torri Chute then doubled in Cornick for what would be a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
 
A 3-0 lead came in the bottom of the second inning as Mary Pardo launched her 19^th home run of the season over the left-field fence. The home run was such a no-doubt four-base hit, the fan beyond the fence caught the ball in his hat with ease.
 
After quiet third and fourth innings, the Vikings plated two more runs in the fifth which proved to be the final score.
 
Delaney Young doubled into right-center to score Chute, then Gracey Brink doubled into left field to score Becca Koupal.
 
Elliott pitched six innings for AU, allowing five hits and striking out eight. She recorded her 18^th win of the year. Olivia Hazelbaker pitched a clean seventh inning while striking out one and facing the minimum three batters.
 
At the plate, the Vikings racked up 10 hits with two each from Pardo and Cornick. Pardo scored two of the Vikings' runs. All five RBI came from five different spots in the Vikings' batting order.
 
Game Three: No. 17 Minnesota State 4, No. 1 Augustana 2
Minnesota State carried a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning in the winner-take-all contest. The Mavericks scratched a run across the plate in the third inning but both defenses played stellar contests keeping the 1-0 score for most of the game.
 
Minnesota State added three runs in the sixth inning. However, it was the seventh inning where the Vikings offense started to make noise, and make things interesting. The Vikings pushed two runs across the plate, with Becca Koupal scoring on a chopper to the shortstop by Abbie Lund. The next hitter was Mary Pardo, and she singled into right field to score Bergen Lindner.
 
That's when MSU made a pitching change and forced Kendall Cornick into a groundout to first base, but she successfully moved the runners to second and third base. With two outs, Gracey Brink sent a high-fly ball to the right fielder where the Maverick made a strong play on the ball for the final out of the game.
 
Olivia Hazelbaker made her first career start in the circle for the Vikings, pitching five innings while Abbie Lund, the Vikings' starting left field, made her debut in the circle for two innings of relief.
 
Augustana's offense recorded seven runs with three of them off the bat of Pardo. The other hits came from Torri Chute, Amanda Dickmeyer, Young and Chute.
 
Up Next
The Vikings, who are the current No. 1 seed in the Central Region, will find out who they will face in the Central Regional Sunday at 9 p.m. A live stream of the NCAA Championships Selection Show can be found on NCAA.com. The Central Regional is hosted by Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma, with games beginning Wednesday.