RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Augustana softball collected its first doubleheader sweep of the season, taking down Arkansas Tech on the road 4-2 and 6-4 on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Vikings improve to 4-3 on the season while the Golden Suns drop to 4-2 overall.  
 
GAME ONE: No. 7 Augustana 4, Arkansas Tech 2
Action against ATU started strong with a first inning home run from Desi Cuevas and didn't stop as the Vikings claimed the 4-2 victory.
 
Cuevas struck first for AU with the second at-bat of the game as she put one out of the park to go up 1-0. Augustana held the Golden Suns scoreless and eventually added on to the lead in the fourth.
 
Ella Cooper doubled and made it to third off a wild pitch until Ashton Dorman came up to bat. Her single brought Cooper home and put Norah Christiansen at the plate, who slammed a two-run homer to take the 4-0 lead.
 
Arkansas Tech scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, but were stopped there, leaving two on base. The Vikings turned up the defense as Grace Glanzer struck out three of the next batters and forced a three-up, three-down in the bottom of the seventh to secure the 4-2 win.
 
Lexi Lander led, going 2-for-3 from the plate, as five other Vikings also logged a hit in the action. Christiansen tallied two RBI and Glanzer took the win with seven total strikeouts.
 
GAME TWO: No. 7 Augustana 6, Arkansas Tech 4
A hot-handed fourth inning put the Vikings solidly ahead, fending off a late rally from the home team to complete the sweep with the 6-4 win.
 
After back-to-back walks and a sac bunt to start the first, Andrea Cain found herself on third base. A grounder from Dorman scored Cain for the first run of the game and gave AU the 1-0 advantage at mid-point of the inning.
 
Arkansas Tech plated a run of its own in the bottom of the first and the 1-1 score remained until the fourth inning when the Vikings offense exploded. Christiansen walked and stole second before ending up advancing to third and scoring off a single from Lander and a muffed throw.
 
Two fielder's choice and a single set up Cain at-bat, who walked to load the bases. Cuevas singled to shortstop to score Briana Lee and was immediately followed by a single from Cooper, scoring both Cain and Liz Dierks.
 
That brought up Dorman, who singled up the middle and advanced to second on the throw, bringing Cuevas around home. The electric showing at the plate brought in five total runs for the Vikings in the inning, making it a 6-1 game.
 
ATU scored one in the bottom of the fifth and two in the sixth, but Haley Grimmius fought off the loaded bases with a strikeout to end the rally. Augustana again held off the Golden Suns in the seventh, taking down the first three batters of the inning to close the sweep.
 
Cooper and Dorman collected two RBI apiece as Dorman went 2-for-4 and Cain and Cuevas each logged two walks. Lander earned the victory with five strikeouts through four innings pitched as Grimmius took the save with three strikeouts.
 
UP NEXT
Augustana softball will return to action at the Top Gun College Invitational in Shawnee, Kan., with a six-game slate between Friday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 2.