MANKATO, Minn. – It was a tale of two games for the Augustana softball team in a 5-1 game one loss and an 11-1 game two, run-rule victory.
 
With the split, the Vikings move to 20-7 on the year and 4-2 within the NSIC. Concordia-St. Paul, a squad that has been the surprise of the NSIC in 2022, is 20-5-1 overall and 3-3 in conference action.
 
Game One: Concordia-St. Paul 5, Augustana 1
Augustana fell behind 3-0 after three innings and could only push one run across the plate, a Delaney Young home run, in a 5-1 loss.
 
Young's home run, her eighth of 2022, was a drive down the left-field line. In the game, Augustana totaled five hits, one each from Young, Mary Pardo, Kennedy Buckman, Amanda Dickmeyer and Abbie Lund.
 
Ashley Mickschl started the contest, tossing five innings. She gave up three earned runs and struck out five. Hailey Houston pitched the final five innings, striking out two.
 
Game Two: No. 7 Augustana 11, Concordia-St. Paul 1
After a 1-1 score one inning into the game, the Vikings took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second, a lead they would not relinquish.
 
That go-ahead run came on a triple from Gracey Brink, her second in consecutive games. The hit scored Kennedy Buckman, who was standing on first base thanks to a walk.
 
Augustana then plated five runs in the third and four in the fourth to push the 11-1 victory.
 
All nine of the runs were produced with the bats, but none by the long ball. Mary Pardo scored due to an error on a Liz Dierks bunt single. Dierks then scored on a Delaney Young single. Still in the third inning, three-straight batters resulted in three runs. Buckman doubled in Young, Brink singled in Torri Chute, then Buckman was circled around when Amanda Dickmeyer was batting. That resulted in a 7-1 lead after three innings.
 
The fourth inning's first run came on a Chute single into left-center, to score Pardo. With the bases loaded, Buckman singled up the middle to score Chute.
 
The final two runs of the game came on a Brink single into left field. That scored Buckman and Lien for the 11-1 score.
 
In all, Augustana recorded 12 hits for the 11 runs. Brink led with three hits while Dierks, Young, Chute and Buckman all had two hits. Both Pardo and Buckman scored three runs each.
 
In the circle, Amber Elliott started the game and pitched for three innings, giving up a hit and run. She struck out four. Hailey Houston came on in relief for the final two innings, allowing just a single hit.
 
Up Next
Augustana returns home Wednesday to face Winona State at Sherman Park. Game one is slated for 3 p.m. with an anticipated second game at 5 p.m.
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