ST. PAUL, Minn. - NSIC Champions. For the fourth consecutive regular season, that is a title that will be attached to the Augustana softball team following a sweep over Concordia-St. Paul on Sunday afternoon at Carlander Field.
Augustana, winners of 22 straight, improves to 40-13 overall and 25-1 in the NSIC while the Golden Bears fall to 35-11, 17-5.Â
Game One: Augustana 3, Concordia-St. Paul 0
Grace Glanzer dropped her season ERA to 0.69 with a four-hit shutout to help lead the Vikings to a victory in game one.Â
The offense tallied seven hits, led by two hits from both
Torri Chute and
Gracey Brink.
Ashton Dorman had a pair of RBI and three different Vikings scored a run in
Desi Cuevas,
Kennedy Buckman, and Chute.Â
The offense got everything they needed in the third inning. Cuevas reached on a one-out single and Buckman walked to get a pair on.Â
Chute opened the scoring two pitches later, doubling to center field to drive in Cuevas and take the lead.Â
With two outs, Dorman delivered, singling to center to drive home Buckman and Chute and round out the scoring.Â
That proved to be plenty for Glanzer. After a leadoff single in the bottom of the third inning, allowed just two hits and a walk scattered between the final 15 outs to complete the win.Â
Game Two: Augustana 7, Concordia-St. Paul 2
The bats awoke, knocking around 10 hits and slugging five home runs to complete the sweep and cap off the regular season title.Â
All nine starters had a hit while
Stella Harber went 2 for 3 with a home run, RBI, and run scored. Seven different Vikings crossed home and six different players drove in a run, led by a pair of RBI from Chute.Â
Lexi Lander was in control in the circle, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four to earn the victory. Glanzer made her first relief appearance of the season and faced just three batters in the seventh inning.Â
Andrea Cain didn't wait around to start the offense, mashing a home run to right center on the first pitch of the game to take a 1-0 lead.Â
That was the entirety of the scoring until the fifth inning when Harber drove a home run to center on the first pitch of the inning to double the lead at 2-0.Â
The Vikings struck for four in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach. Buckman singled up the middle to lead off the inning and Chute hit a two-run home run to the opposite field to double the lead again.Â
Brink followed up with a long at bat, working the count full before blasting a home run of her own. Two batters later,
Nicole Bellis hit a home run to right field to grow the lead to 6-0.
After CSP scored their first runs of the day in the bottom of the sixth, the Vikings got one back in the seventh to round out the scoring. Cuevas doubled to right center and  advanced to third on a throwing error. Buckman drove her in after reaching on an error to seal the deal.Â
Augustana concludes regular season play on Sunday, hosting Minnesota State for senior day starting at noon.Â
–GoAugie.com–