SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana softball team saw its bats alive and pitchers slingin' Sunday as the Vikings swept Minnesota Crookston on Senior Day by scores of 10-1 and 18-0. Between the two contests, the Vikings racked up 23 hits while allowing just three.
 
The Vikings are now 30-11 on the season and 17-3 and in first place of the NSIC. Minnesota Crookston falls to 16-27, 4-14.
 
Game One: Augustana 10, Minnesota Crookston 1
The Vikings scored in three of the five innings played with one in the first, two in the third and seven in the fourth for the run-rule victory. While the bats were hot, Hailey Houston was dealing by tying a career-best seven strikeouts and allowing just two hits.
 
Torri Chute pushed across the first run of the game in the opening frame as a single to left field scored Gracey Brink.
 
In the third inning, Abby Lien homered over the left-field fence to make it 3-0, again bringing home Brink.
 
The seven-run fourth inning was started by a single by Brink to score Liz Dierks. Chute then hit a home run to clear the bases and score Brink and Andrea Cain to make it 7-0 in favor of the Vikings.
 
With two runners on for Kennedy Buckman, the Vikings' second basemen clobbered a home run to left field that landed nearly 30 feet past the fence.
 
Despite a fifth-inning run by the Golden Eagles, the Vikings easily handled game one for the 10-1 score.  
 
Of Augustana's 10 hits, two came from the bats of Chute, Delaney Young and Buckman. Brink was on base three times, two from walks and one hit, and scored all three times.
 
Houston's win in the circle was the 15^th of the season.
 
Game Two: Augustana 18, Minnesota Crookston 0
Lexi Lander tossed four innings of one-hit ball for her 12^th win of the year while Helene Krage twirled the final inning while striking out one as part of the 18-0 victory.
 
The Vikings hit four home runs in the contest including a grand slam by Delaney Young. Young, who hit the new Bowden Field's first grand slam earlier this season, made this one extra special as all four seniors were on the base paths or in the batter's box.
 
With AU leading 11-0, Nicole Bellis was on third base, Abby Lien on second and Bergen Lindner on first to set the stage for Young. She took the first pitch of the at-bat and pounded a grand slam over the left-center fence to make a full-circle moment for the seniors that were honored between games.
 
In the fourth inning, Lindner knocked her first-career home run down the left-field line to give AU an 18-0 lead. Liz Dierks was on base for the four-base hit which proved to be the final runs of the game.
 
Of Augustana's 13 hits, two each came from Andrea Cain, Lien and Young.
 
Up Next
The Vikings are back on Bowden Field Monday to host Bemidji State. First pitch is slated for noon.