CONROE, Texas – The Augustana softball team suffered a pair of defeats Friday. The Vikings first fell 7-2 to Oklahoma Christian, then had a 5-4 setback to St. Mary's. Augustana moves to 2-2 on the season while OCU is 1-0. St. Mary's is 2-0.
 
Game One: Oklahoma Christian 7, Augustana 2
A day after racking up 23 hits over two games, the Vikings totaled just four hits in the 7-2 setback. The Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and it wasn't until the fourth inning that AU saw the offense jump alive.
 
Gracey Brink got things started by laying down a bunt to open the inning. Abby Lien then tripled into right-center field to score Brink. Torri Chute, the third batter of the inning, simply singled up the middle to score Lien and make it 3-2.
 
Oklahoma Christian then plated four runs in the fifth inning, all unearned to push the 7-2 advantage which proved to be the final score.
 
The four hits for AU came from the bats of Brink, Lien, Chute and Ashton Dorman. Lexie Lander pitched the complete game for Augustana, giving up seven hits and just two earned runs.
 
Game Two: St. Mary's 5, Augustana 4
Augustana jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Ashton Dorman reached base on an error, travelling to second base. Kennedy Buckman then singled into left-center to score Dorman giving AU the 1-0 advantage.
 
However, that advantage was short lived as the Rattlers knotted things back up at one in the bottom half of the second.
 
Two innings later, St. Mary's moved ahead 4-1.
 
Augustana then got a run back in the top of the fifth inning as Gracey Brink doubled in Bergen Lindner who was pinch running for Andrea Cain. Cain reached base after being hit by a pitch.
 
A fifth run was plated by St. Mary's in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 5-2 game.
 
In a do or game over situation, Augustana's offense got two runs back in the top of the seventh inning. Kennedy Buckman walked and was pushed across home plate thanks to a Sydney Herbert triple. Herbert then swiped home plate for the Vikings' fourth run but AU was unable to push the tying run across home plate in the 5-4 final score.
 
Torri Chute was 2-for-2 in the game with a walk while the Vikings totaled six hits. The other four came from four different spots in the Vikings' batting order. Hailey Houston made the start in the pitcher's circle, giving up five runs, just three earned, while striking out five.
 
Up Next
Augustana closes play in Texas on Saturday with an 11 a.m. game vs. St. Edward's and a 1:15 p.m. contest with No. 3 UT Tyler.