DENVER – The Augustana softball season came to a close Saturday in a 9-4 loss to West Texas A&M. Earlier in the day, the Vikings topped Grand Valley State 13-2 to advance to Saturday's nightcap.
 
Augustana's season concludes with a 49-8 overall record, the most in the country. West Texas A&M advances to the championship series with a 41-11 mark. Augustana ends its season as the NSIC Regular Season Champions, NCAA Division II Central Region Champions and advanced to the NCAA Championship site. In the NCAA postseason, the Vikings recorded a 5-2 record.
 
The Lady Buffs jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning but the Vikings jumped on the scoreboard in the fourth inning with two runs of their own.
 
Abby Lien singled into left field which scored Gracey Brink who was standing on third base after reaching base on a fielder's choice then moved to third base during Torri Chute's at-bat. The next hitter, Delaney Young, then singled into left center to load the bases.
 
Amanda Dickmeyer drew a bases-loaded walk to score Chute, cutting the deficit in half at 4-2.
 
Each team tacked on a run in the fifth inning with Brink scoring the Vikings' run on a home run into right-center field.  
 
West Texas A&M then added runs in the sixth inning, forcing a six-run deficit for AU heading into the seventh. Augustana was able to get one more run across the plate in the seventh, a single from Kendall Cornick scored Mary Pardo who was on third base after reaching base on a triple.
 
The Vikings, the nation's No. 1 team for nearly the entire second half of the 2021 season, totaled nine hits with two each from Cornick and Abby Lien. The other five hits came from the bats of Pardo, Brink, Chute, Young and Ashley Mickschl.