MOORHEAD, Minn. – No. 8 Augustana softball started its conference slate in dominant fashion, taking down MSU Moorhead in back-to-back shutouts, 10-0 and 8-0, in a Thursday doubleheader on the road.
 
The Vikings improve to 20-6 on the year while the Dragons drop to 8-21.
 
GAME ONE: No. 8 Augustana 10, MSU Moorhead 0
The Vikings dominated from the plate—knocking three homeruns out of the team's 11 hits—to cruise to a 10-0 shutout victory in five innings.
 
Action started with a triple from Desi Cuevas in the second at-bat of the game, who then scored on the next batter with a single from Lexi Lander. Stella Harber homered to right field to start the second and Liz Dierks added in a run to make it a 3-0 game.
 
Facing a two-out situation, Ashton Dorman drew a walk to bring up Ella Cooper, who sent a rocket out to left field for a two-run home run for the 5-0 lead. The Vikings added in another run in the fourth but the fifth is when the bats really went to work.
 
Lander hit a solo shot over center field to kick off the action at the plate. Dorman doubled and Cooper was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, who advanced off a ground out. Izzy Galan soon singled down center field to score two and a sacrifice fly brought in another to make it 10-0.
 
Sydney Herbert and Lander each went 2-for-3 from the plate as Galan and Lander logged two RBI apiece. Harber, Cooper and Lander combined for the team's three homeruns in the affair as Cuevas tallied a triple and Herbert and Dorman each knocked out a double.
 
Grace Glanzer (9-4) was on fire in the circle, striking out eight of the 16 batters faced while allowing no runs and just one hit across five innings.
 
GAME TWO: No. 8 Augustana 8, MSU Moorhead 0
Despite a slow start, the Vikings continued to push on the gas in game two as they lit up the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth innings to take an 8-0 shutout win for the doubleheader sweep.
 
Neither team scored until the top of the fourth inning until Andrea Cain drew a walk and Cuevas singled both before advancing. Dorman followed that up with a single to right field to score both of the baserunner and put the visitors ahead 2-0.
 
The scoring was blown wide open in the top of the fifth when Herbert sent a two-run shot down the left field line to go up 4-0. Dierks singled and was brought home off another homerun, this time from Cain.
 
But the homerun action wouldn't stop there. Cuevas doubled to left field and Dorman smacked a rocket to right center for the two-run homer and the 8-0 lead. Despite two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth, AU would take home the shutout.
 
Cuevas was 2-for-3 as Cain logged two RBI, two walks, a stolen base and a home run and Dorman collected four RBI to go with her six putouts, one homerun and one walk.
 
Lander (9-2) took the win in the circle, striking out six batters in five innings of work with only two hits allowed.
 
UP NEXT
Augustana heads to Aberdeen, S.D. to take on the Northern State Wolves in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader, with action set to begin at 1:30 p.m.