EDMOND, Okla. – For the second-straight day, it was an Abby Lien home run that pushed the Augustana softball team to victory. Augustana topped Arkansas Tech in a must-win game, 2-1, to advance to Championship Saturday in Edmond, Oklahoma. Previously in the day, Augustana fell 1-0 in 11 innings to Central Oklahoma.
 
The Vikings and Bronchos will meet again Saturday where AU must win two games to keep its season alive.
 
With the split on Friday, Augustana moves to 49-9 on the season. Arkansas Tech saw its season end with a 40-19 record. Central Oklahoma moved on to Championship Saturday with a 47-10 record.
 
Of note, Augustana tied the program's single-season record for home runs with 94 during the contest with Arkansas Tech. The 94 home runs tie the 2019 squad for the most in a season.
 
Game Two: Augustana 2, Arkansas Tech 1
A leadoff home run for the Golden Suns gave Arkansas Tech a 1-0 lead that it carried through the fourth inning. In the top of the fifth, Torri Chute drew a leadoff walk. With Becca Koupal pinch-running, Delaney Young sacrificed Koupal to second base and was then sent to third base on a Gracey Brink single.
 
Kennedy Buckman then picked up the RBI as Koupal crossed home plate to knot the game at 1-1.
 
In the top of the sixth, Abby Lien cranked a 2-2 pitch over the left-center field fence to give Augustana the 2-1 advantage. The home run was the record-tying four-base hit for most in a single season for the Vikings.
 
Ashley Mickschl then shut down the Arkansas Tech offense in succession in the bottom of the sixth and bottom of the seventh innings to secure the victory.
 
The Vikings won the game with just a pair of hits, the home run from Lien and a single from Buckman.
 
Mickschl tossed all seven innings to move to 23-2 on the season, giving up five hits and striking out five. She did not walk a batter.
 
Game One: Central Oklahoma 3, Augustana 0
It was an 11-inning affair that saw Central Oklahoma score all three runs on a double in the 3-0 Vikings' loss. Augustana recorded four hits across the 11 innings while drawing a pair of walks.
 
In totality, it was a pitcher's duel between the Vikings' Amber Elliott and Central Oklahoma's Kylee Lynch.
 
One of the biggest threats of the game came in the opening frame as Mary Pardo singled to third base and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Liz Dierks then hit for a bunt single to push Pardo to third. However, that is far as she would get rounding the bases as the inning ended.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Dierks reached second base after a single to left-center and was advanced to second base by Abby Lien, but once again, the potential run was left stranded.
 
Heading into the extra innings the offense again couldn't push a run across.
 
On the other side of the field, the Vikings' defense, and Elliott, allowed just four hits through the first seven innings of action, continually not allowing a rhythm from the host Bronchos.
 
It wasn't until the 11^th inning that UCO mounted a threat and scored the three runs on a bases-clearing double.
 
Elliott pitched all 11 innings, giving up seven hits while striking out seven. She falls to 19-4 in the circle. Kylee Lynch was the winning pitcher for Central Oklahoma, and she moved to 25-3 on the year.
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