SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The NSIC Regular champion Augustana softball team begins its postseason quest on Thursday afternoon at Bowden Field. The Vikings will take on St. Cloud State at 12:30 p.m., in the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals. 

Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play. 

Augustana, the No. 1 seed, went a 27-1 in NSIC play to wrap up its fourth-straight regular season championship. The team is littered with top talent in the NSIC, led by NSIC Player of the Year Gracey Brink and the Newcomer and Pitcher of the Year in Grace Glanzer.

Brink, a senior from Rapid City, S.D., Led the NSIC batting average at .494 and held the conference's best OPS with 1.534 in 28 games played. She homered nine times with 19 RBIs and an NSIC-best slugging percentage of .963 while having a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage behind the plate. 

Glanzer, a senior from Sioux Falls, S.D., was dominant in the circle in her lone season as a Viking. The right-hander went a perfect 14-0 and led the NSIC with a 0.72 ERA. She only gave up 12 runs through 14 starts and struck out 86 batters in 88 innings. She held an opponents batting average of .125 and had six complete-game shutouts. 

In addition to the major award winners, the Vikings saw Torri Chute, Desi Cuevas, Andrea Cain, Kennedy Buckman and Ashton Dorman named to the first team. Lexi Lander and Stella Harber were named to the second team. The NSIC defensive team consisted of three Vikings, Cuevas, Buckman and Brink. 

About the Huskies
The Huskies are 30-25 overall after knocking off Sioux Falls in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament. SCSU is led by Mitch Roberts who is 100-63 in his third season. 

Reese Holzhueter is hitting .376 on the season and carries a 1.014 OPS. Also atop the offense is Maggie Fitzgerald's team leading 14 home runs and Holly Wineberger, whose .328 average ranks second on the team. 

Justyce Porter leads the team with a 2.25 ERA and has thrown 134 innings and has seven saves, and Emma Eickhoff has made 34 starts and has a 3.52 ERA. 

About the Vikings
Augustana (42-13) comes into the week fresh off a sweep over Minnesota State to close out the regular season last weekend. 

Desi Cuevas is hitting .438 with a 1.180 OPS and eight home runs near the top of the Vikings lineup. Torri Chute leads the team with 16 home runs and 59 RBI while batting .373 and Gracey Brink is hitting .377 with 12 home runs and 49 runs scored. 

Andrea Cain has thrived in the lead off spot with 12 home runs and a .365 average, and Ashton Dorman is batting .391 with an OPS of 1.017. As a team, the Vikings rank fourth in the country with 549 hits, sixth with 105 doubles, sixth with 77 home runs, seventh with a .584 slugging percentage, and 10th with a batting average of .352.

Grace Glanzer has been one of the best in the country this season, leading a Viking staff that is 15th in the country in WHIP and 17th in the country in ERA. Glanzer is first in the country in WHIP (0.64), second in shutouts (10), second in hits allowed per seven innings (3.45), 

With a win on Thursday, the Vikings would move onto Friday to play in the semifinals at noon against the winner of MSU Moorhead and Minnesota State. For a full bracket, click here.