LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Augustana softball has spent much of the season ranked No. 1 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) top-25 poll. As the nation's top team, the Vikings were rewarded plenty on Tuesday with a Division II-best four All-America awards.
 
The Vikings secured a First Team selection in Kendall Cornick, Second Team selection in Ashley Mickschl and a pair of Third Team honorees in Mary Pardo and Torri Chute.
 
The four student-athletes have led Augustana to an NSIC Championship, Central Region Championship and to the NCAA Championship site as one of the final eight teams still playing in Division II.
 
Cornick has done it all for the Vikings in 2021 and is on the Top-15 List for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Player of the Year. The senior from Mason City, Iowa, has hit .459 through 50 games in 2021. She is the NSIC leader in average, hits, doubles, stolen bases and on-base percentage. She has recorded 72 hits, a mark that ranks sixth in the nation while her 17 doubles rank her eighth in the country. Her 33 stolen bases are third in NCAA Division II.
 
The All-America honor is the first for Cornick as she becomes the 18^th Viking to earn First Team honors from the NFCA.
 
Mickschl, hailing from Woodbury, Minnesota, owns a 26-3 record in the circle, easily the most wins in the NSIC and a mark that is second in the nation. She owns an 0.84 WHIP, tops in the NSIC and seventh in the nation. In 177.1 innings pitched, she has struck out 131 batters and given up just 122 hits and 44 earned runs throughout the season. She has held her opponent hitters to a .190 batting average.
 
On April 24, she pitched a perfect game against MSU Moorhead. In that game, she allowed just one ball to even leave the infield for an out.
 
The All-America award is the third of her career.
 
Pardo is an All-America selection after ranking third in the nation with 20 home runs, just three short of tying the Augustana single-season record. The Andover, Minnesota, native ranks third in the conference with 45 RBI and second with a .743 slugging percentage. Not only a power hitter, Pardo has proven herself in the ground game as well with 26 stolen bases, a mark that is third in the NSIC and 19^th in the nation. Her 124 total bases in 2021 is 10^th in NCAA Division II.
 
The All-America accolade is the first of her career.
 
Chute, the NSIC Freshman of the Year, is an All-American for the first time after leading the NSIC and ranking fourth in the nation with 62 runs batted in. Her seven sacrifice flies rank her atop the nation. In her first full season as a Viking, Chute has ranked second on the team with a .403 batting average, totaled 16 doubles and tallied 11 total bases. Her 64 hits in 2021 rank her 16^th in the nation and second in the NSIC, only behind her teammate Cornick.
 
Augustana has recorded as many as four All-America accolades from the NFCA on just four other occasions with the last coming in 1998.
 
The Vikings' season continues Thursday in the opening contest of the 2021 NCAA Division II Softball Championships. The Vikings, the top-seed in the tournament, play the eighth seed Valdosta State at noon (CT) in Denver, Colorado. For complete coverage of the softball championships, stay tuned to GoAugie.com and the @GoAugie social media channels.