SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – It's the final home weekend (with one midweek remaining) for the Augustana softball team as it celebrates its seniors, welcomes back alumni and will have a beer garden as part of the celebration of the first season of the revamped Bowden Field. Augustana welcomes Minnesota Crookston on Sunday and Bemidji State on Monday for a pair of doubleheaders beginning at noon.
 
Senior Day will be celebrated on Sunday with sunny skies and a high of 50 degrees.
 
Live stats and live video will be available at GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app. The app is available in the app store and Google Play and is presented by the Original Pancake House. 
 
About the Golden Eagles
Minnesota Crookston enters the weekend with a 15-24 overall record and 3-11 in the NSIC. Prior to playing the Vikings, the Golden Eagles are at Wayne State on Saturday. Most recently, Minnesota Crookston split with Minot State with a 7-4 win and a 3-1 loss this past Wednesday.
 
Alina Avalos leads the team with a .396 batting average and co-leads the squad with five home runs. Two others have also hit five home runs with Dana Zarn and Shaelyn Grant combining with Avalos for 15 of UMC's 21 home runs. In the circle, Thayda Houser is 6-6 with a 4.38 ERA.
 
About the Beavers
Bemidji State, much like Minnesota Crookston, will play at Wayne State before visiting the Vikings. The Beavers hold an 18-18 overall record and are 7-7 within the NSIC having won four-straight games. The victories were sweeps of Concordia-St. Paul and UMary.
 
Mariah Stevenson leads BSU in batting with a .330 average while Alexa Christenson holds the team lead for most hits at 37. The Beavers have hit just 13 home runs with the most coming from the bat off Emmarie Yeager and her three.
 
About the Vikings
Augustana is on a hot streak of late, having won six-straight games with five of the six being run-rule wins. Augustana is 28-11 overall and has worked itself back to the top of the NSIC standings with a 15-3 record to tie with Minnesota Duluth, a team it ends the regular season against.
 
In the batting average department, Torri Chute ranks second in the NSIC with a .415 average while Kennedy Buckman leads the league with 14 home runs. Augustana's team slugging percentage is at .600, a mark that is fourth in NCAA Division II.
 
Defensively, the Vikings have a one-two punch of Hailey Houston and Lexi Lander in the circle. Houston is 14-2 overall with a 2.36 ERA. Lander is 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA.
 
Following the Weekend
Augustana's doubleheader with Southwest Minnesota State will be played Wednesday with a 2 p.m. first pitch at Bowden Field. The games are the final scheduled contests at Bowden Field in 2023.