Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana, ranked 21st in the latest NCAA Division III softball poll, won a pair of games on the opening day of the Augustana Invitational on Saturday, March 29 at Carver Field. The Vikings moved to 15-5 on the season with wins over Wisconsin-Stout (10-7) and Blackburn (7-0). The Vikings have now won four games in a row.
 
Sophomore Ashley Anderson (Sherrard HS, Viola, Ill.) led Augustana with both her arm and her bat in the two victories. She went six for seven at the plate with a run scored and four runs-batted-in and on the mound she worked five hitless innings as the starting (and winning) pitcher in the victory over Blackburn. She also picked up a save in the victory over Wisconsin-Stout.
 
AUGUSTANA 10, UW-STOUT 7
 
This game ebbed and flowed and featured a total of four home runs and six extra base hits before Augustana finally broke away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Freshman Krista Dawson (Niles West HS, Lincolnwood, Ill.) picked up the victory in relief of Viking starter Sarah Hintz (LeRoy HS, LeRoy, Ill.) and Anderson claimed a save.
 
The fireworks started early when the Blue Devils' Kaitlin Stark led off the game with a home run against a 3-1 offering from Hintz. Augustana answered in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs. Junior Laura Behnke (Wheaton St. Francis HS, Roselle, Ill.) led off with a triple to center field and scored on a single to left off the bat of junior Jenna Teson (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.). Teson went to second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch and came home on a ground out by Anderson to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
 
That lasted until the top of the third when Taylor Workman deposited a 3-1 pitch from Hintz over the center field fence with a runner on to make it 3-2 in favor of UW-Stout. Once again Augustana had an answer as Behnke walked with one out and Teson singled her to second. Senior Krista Watson (Coal City HS, Coal City, Ill.) singled down the right field line to drive in Behnke and move Teson to third. An Anderson single to left scored Teson to make it 4-3.
 
In the top of the fifth the Blue Devils used a two-run single by Tori Workman to go ahead 5-4 but the Vikings played the power game in the bottom of the frame. After Anderson singled with two outs, senior Jaime Rehmert (Sterling HS, Sterling, Ill.) bombed a home run to right center and junior Chelsea Lavin (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) followed with a home run of her own to center. That gave Augustana a 7-5 lead heading into the top of the sixth.
 
The Blue Devils bunched four hits and some aggressive base runner to tie the game 7-7 and knock Hintz out of the circle. Dawson came in and coaxed a crucial double play to get out of the inning without any more damage.
 
In the bottom of the sixth the Vikings finally shook the visitors with three runs and the rally came with two outs. Behnke singled and Teson was hit by a pitch. Watson snuck a double just down the line in left to score Behnke with what proved to be the winning run and move Teson to third. Anderson then singled to right to score Teson and Watson to make the score 10-7.
 
Anderson took over for Dawson, who picked up her first collegiate victory, in the top of the seventh and retired the side in order to get credit for the save. She was also three for four with four RBI at the plate. The Vikings cracked 11 hits against UW-Stout hurler Tori Workman. Behnke was two for three with three runs scored while Teson was two for three with three runs scored and an RBI. Watson added a two for four day with a run scored and two RBI.
 
The first four batters in the Augustana lineup (Behnke, Teson, Watson and Anderson) were a combined nine for 14 with seven runs scored and seven RBI in the game.
 
AUGUSTANA 7, BLACKBURN 0
 
Anderson took a no-hitter through five innings before she was replaced by junior Christie Wiersema (Morrison HS, Morrison, Ill.) as Augustana defeated Blackburn 7-0. Wiersema only allowed one hit in two innings to finish the shutout. Anderson, who struck out three and walked two, is now 5-4 on the year.
 
The Vikings pounded 11 hits off a pair of Beaver pitchers. Once again, Anderson was a force at the plate as she went three for three with a run scored. She was the only Augustana player with multiple hits as head coach Kris Kistler cleared her bench and used a total of 18 players in the game.
 
Augustana scored two runs in the top of the second and never looked back. The Vikings added a single run in the second, two in the fourth and one each in the fifth and sixth. The only inning they failed to score was the third.