SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – It was another sweep for the Augustana softball team, and again by the run-rule, with 12-3 and 16-0 wins over Upper Iowa at Bowden Field Thursday. With the site-reversal contests, the Vikings were the visiting team on the scoreboard at Bowden Field.
 
Augustana is now 28-11 on the year and 15-3 in the NSIC. Upper Iowa is 14-21, 6-11.
 
Game One: Augustana 12, Upper Iowa 3
The Vikings used an eight-run third inning to propel themselves to victory in the 12-3 contest. After Delaney Young knocked one off the scoreboard in center field in the second inning for a 2-0 lead, the Vikings did the bulk of the game's damage in the third.
 
A two-run double by Abby Lien pushed the score to 4-0 as Andrea Cain and Gracey Brink crossed home plate. Lien and Torri Chute scored on an Ashton Dorman single while Delaney Young scored on a Kennedy Buckman infield single.
 
The Vikings took an 8-0 lead on an attempted double steal with Ashton Dorman sliding on the home dish. The final runs of the third inning came on a fly ball to center field that the Peacock center fielder dropped to score Cain and Liz Dierks. AU led 10-0 at that point.
 
The Peacocks got three runs back in the third inning but two more runs by Augustana in the fifth put an end to any Peacock comeback hopes. The three runs came from a Sydney Herbert home run over the left-field fence. The final run came as Cain lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Dierks for the 12-3 score.
 
Augustana tallied nine hits across the lineup with Dierks being the only hitter with two hits. Hailey Houston pitched the run-rule five-inning complete game by allowing six hits and the three runs while striking out seven.
 
Game Two: Augustana 16, Upper Iowa 0
The Vikings gave up one hit in the 16-run game, a single to the first batter of the game. In fact, just two batters reached base the entire game as Lexi Lander tossed four innings, struck out three and walked one while allowing one hit. Helene Krage pitched the final inning while striking out two Peacock batters.
 
The offense was furious with two runs in each of the first three innings, then piled on six runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Among the highlights of the offensive outburst were a pair of home runs by Kennedy Buckman, the NSIC leader in home runs and another by Sydney Herbert, her second of the day.
 
Buckman and Herbert went back-to-back in the third inning to make the score 5-0 and 6-0. The final runs came off the bat of Buckman as that was a two-run home run as Dorman was on base to make it 16-0.
 
The Vikings racked up 16 hits in the contest with three each from Andrea Cain and Herbert. Herbert also recorded three runs while Dorman tallied four RBI.
 
Up Next
Augustana is slated to host Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston for Senior Day weekend. Stay tuned to @Augiesoftball on social media for schedule updates.