MARSHALL, Minn. – The No. 10 Augustana softball team swept the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State on Wednesday afternoon, 4-0 and 8-3, to help kick off conference action with six straight wins.
 
AU improves to 24-6 on the season with a 6-0 conference showing while the Mustangs drop to 20-12 and 2-4.
 
GAME ONE: No. 10 Augustana 4, Southwest Minnesota State 0
Two innings of hot action off the bats for the Vikings proved to be the key as Augustana secured a 4-0 victory over the Mustangs in game one of the doubleheader.
 
Ella Cooper sent a rocket of a home run over the left field fence in her first at-bat of the day, putting the visitors ahead 1-0 on the scoreboard.
 
AU added to it in the third inning, knocking out back-to-back-to-back singles to kick things off. One of those came off the bat of Desi Cuevas, who sent a shot up the middle to bring home Liz Dierks before a fly out and a fielding error for the Mustangs soon brought around Andrea Cain. The final run of the inning came off a passed ball, scoring Cuevas.
 
Grace Glanzer continued to hold it down from the circle, helping to force a three-up, three-down situation in four of the final five innings to keep the home team scoreless.
 
Cuevas led with a 3-for-4 showing at the plate as Cain, Cooper, Dierks and Lexi Lander all logged a hit each. Cuevas and Cooper combined for the team's two RBI as Lander drew the lone walk for the Vikings and Briana Lee and Sydney Herbert each tallied four assists.
 
Glanzer (11-4) earned the win in her seven innings of work, striking out seven of the 24 batters faced while forcing one flyout and 13 groundouts in the shutout.  
 
GAME TWO: No. 10 Augustana 8, Southwest Minnesota State 3
Despite the home team striking first, Augustana rallied back with four straight runs before adding in another two for good measure to take the 8-3 win.
 
A walk with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning. gave SMSU its first run of the game for the 1-0. But the Vikings quickly responded in the second.
 
With runners on first and second, Herbert singled down the right field line to score Stella Harber. Herbert stole second base—now putting runners on second and third—as Dierks was up to bat. She reached base on a fielding error that also scored the two baserunners, putting AU ahead 3-1.
 
Cuevas singled through the right side and Lander reached on a fielding error to put two on base. A groundout advanced the runners before Cooper singled up the middle to score the duo.
 
Despite a two-out situation in the top of the fourth, Cain doubled to center field and quickly made it home off a Mustang error, pushing the lead to 6-1.
 
The home team then responded in the fifth inning, scoring two runs to make it a 6-3 game.
 
Back-to-back singles, a fielder's choice and a stolen base put Lee on third base and Dierks on second. Cain sent a hit through the left side to bring home Lee and advance Dierks, who—after a pitching change—scored off a sacrifice fly from Cuevas. The score sat at 8-3 and would remain until the end of the game.
 
Lee went 3-for-4 as Cain, Cooper and Herbert each went 2-for-4 at the plate. Dierks and Herbert logged a stolen base apiece and Cooper and Cain each knocked out a double.
 
In the circle, Lander took home the win and improved to 11-2. She tallied two strikeouts with seven flyouts and six groundouts in five innings of work. Haley Grimmius also made an appearance, facing seven batters across two innings.
 
UP NEXT
Augustana will return home to take on St. Cloud State in a Friday afternoon doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. before taking on Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at 12 p.m.