JOPLIN, Mo. - The Augustana softball team opened the 2026 NCAA Regional Tournament on Thursday afternoon, dropping a 6-5 heartbreaker to host No. 5 Missouri Southern at the Pat Lipira Softball Complex.
Records
Augustana 30-27
Missouri Southern 49-7
Teya Speltz got the start in the circle, allowing six runs, five earned, with a pair of strikeouts against one of the top lineups in the country. Seven different Vikings recorded hits, led by two apiece from
Desi Cuevas,
Sidney Smart and
Ella Cooper. Speltz also hit a three-run home run while
Stella Harber and
Andrea Cain each drove in a run.
The Vikings put a trio of balls in the air in the first inning but all found gloves to keep them off the board. After the Lions got a pair in scoring position with no outs in the bottom of the inning, Speltz got two strikeouts but allowed a two-out, two-run double to give MSSU a 2-0 lead.
After each team fell in order in the second, The Vikings struck. Cooper singled with one out and
Susie Tollefson reached on an error to get the first Viking runner in scoring position. Cain delivered, driving a single to right to cut the deficit to 2-1. In the bottom half, the Lions scored two more to grow their lead to 4-1.
That score would hold until the fifth inning. Cooper led off the inning with a single and moved to second after a two-out Cuevas single. After a wild pitch, Speltz helped her cause, blasting a three-run home run to left to even the score at 4-4.
Kierra Lubovich kept the rally rolling with a single and moved to third on a Smart single. Harber would hammer a ball to the third baseman four pitches later, reaching on an error and scoring Lubovich to give AU its first lead of the game at 5-4. The Lions would score two more in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead at 6-5.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Vikings threatened with two on and nobody out in the seventh. They would end up popping into a double play and grounding out to close the game.
The Vikings will now move into the loser's bracket and will take on the loser of Southern Arkansas and St. Cloud State at 4:30 p.m., on Friday.
