PITTSBURG, Kan. – Augustana softball (46-13) earned a Thursday night win against Oklahoma Baptist by a score of 1-0 to open up the NCAA Tournament.
Grace Glanzer pitched her fourth complete-game shutout of the post-season as she helped propel the Vikings to victory.
The Vikings will face No. 1 seed Pittsburg State on Friday at 11 a.m. The winner of Friday's game will advance to the championship on Saturday while the losing team will play at 4 p.m. in a double-elimination tournament.
Augustana 1, Oklahoma Baptist 0
Glanzer faced 26 batters throughout seven innings and collected two strikeouts looking. She allowed one hit through 84 pitches. Augustana collected six hits and walked three times.
Stella Harber made two web gem plays to keep batters off the bags.
Glanzer started out the game with a three-up, three-down as she struck out the first batter of the game and relied on two ground outs to bring in the Viking batters. The Bison pitcher matched Glanzer's first inning with two groundouts and one strikeout.
Gracey Brink collected the first hit of the game in the bottom of the second with a single up the middle.
Nicole Bellis added the second hit of the game in the third inning with a single of her own.
The score remained 0-0 throughout the fourth and fifth innings as both pitchers continued to deal.
Augustana found momentum in the sixth inning as
Desi Cuevas doubled with a ball down the right-field line.
Kennedy Buckman laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Cuevas to third.
With two outs remaining,
Torri Chute was walked to put runners on the corner. Chute stole second base before Brink was also walked. After a Vikings strikeout, Bellis stepped into the batters' box and earned the third walk of the inning to bring in the go-ahead run.
Glanzer took the sixth-inning lead and relied on the defense to sit down three straight batters to claim a Friday night win for the Vikings.
Up Next
Augustana will face No. 1 seed Pittsburg State at 11 a.m. The Vikings went 1-2 this season against the Gorillas.
– GoAugie.com –