MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Augustana softball team split a pair of games at Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday. The Vikings won 8-0 in game one and fell 7-3 in game two. The Vikings sit at 8-7 on the season while the Bearcats are 14-10.
 
Game One: Augustana 8, Northwest Missouri State 0
Augustana's long ball was in full force while Hailey Houston pitched a complete-game shutout in the run-rule victory. Houston tossed all five innings, allowing just four hits and zero walks while striking out seven to pick up her fourth win of the season.
 
The offense came from four home runs, two each from Gracey Brink and Kennedy Buckman. Brink opened the scoring in the top of the third inning with a two-run home run, also bringing home Andrea Cain who reached base via a walk.
 
In the fourth inning, Buckman hit a solo home run to make it 3-0 Vikings. Three batters later, it was 6-0 Vikings with Brink's second home run of the season, bringing Cain in for her second run and also pushing Sydney Herbert across home plate.
 
The top of the fifth inning moved to 8-0 Augustana as Buckman hit a two-run home run with Bergen Lindner crossing home plate. Lindner was on base after singling into right field.
 
In all, Augustana totaled eight hits with two each from Buckman and Brink and one from four different spots in the batting order.
 
Game Two: Northwest Missouri State 7, Augustana 3
It was the fifth inning that proved the difference maker as Augustana had its five-game winning streak snapped.
 
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, the Vikings answered back with a pair of runs in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead. Delaney Young doubled into right-center and was pushed to third base on an Ashton Dorman single. The duo then performed a double steal with Young crossing home plate to knot the score at 1-all. Sydney Herbert then grounded out to second base, but with Dorman standing on third base, she was easily able to take home plate and the 2-1 lead.
 
The home Bearcats had an answer of their own in the bottom of the third to knot things back up at two.
 
Then came the fifth inning. Northwest Missouri State scored five runs on four hits with an error mixed in to take a commanding 7-2 lead.
 
The Vikings were able to get one run back in the top of the seventh as Liz Dierks, who reached base on a hit by pitch, scored on an Abby Lien single into center field.
 
Augustana totaled seven hits in the contest with two coming from the bat of Young. In contrast, Northwest Missouri State racked up 13 hits for its seven runs.
 
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