Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WHEATON, Ill. – An offense that erupted for 10 runs on 15 hits in the second game of the double header with Wheaton on Wednesday, April 9 allowed Augustana to escape in a split in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin action. The Vikings, ranked 17th in NCAA Division III, dropped the first game 7-3 when Wheaton scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. However, head coach Kris Kistler's team banged out 15 hits in the second game en route to a 10-3 victory behind the hot bat of senior shortstop Krista Watson (Coal City HS, Coal City, Ill.) and the pitching of sophomore lefthander Ashley Anderson (Sherrard HS, Viola, Ill.).
 
Augustana, now 23-7 overall and 4-2 in league play, will host Millikin on Saturday, April 12 and Elmhurst on Sunday, April 13 in CCIW double headers with each one beginning at 1:00 p.m. Wheaton is now 13-11 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
 
GAME 1 – WHEATON 7, AUGUSTANA 3
Senior pitching ace Sarah Hintz (LeRoy HS, LeRoy, Ill.) ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning and it proved to be costly as the Vikings dropped the opening game of the CCIW double header to Wheaton by a score of 7-3. The Vikings led 3-2 heading into the fifth when the Thunder used a pair of two-run doubles and an Augustana error to pile up five runs. That proved to be the difference in the contest.
 
The Vikings got on top 2-0 after their first at-bat. Watson drove in one run with an RBI sacrifice fly and junior Chelsea Lavin (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) doubled home another.
 
Wheaton tied the game in the bottom of the third with a pair of unearned runs but Augustana took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth. Junior Laura Behnke (Wheaton St. Francis HS, Roselle, Ill.) doubled to lead off and came home on a single by Anderson, who was in the designated hitter spot.
 
The Thunder scored five in the fifth and the Augustana offense could generate just one harmless single the rest of the way.
 
Hintz went six innings in the loss and gave up 11 hits while striking out five. Only four of the seven runs scored against her were earned.
 
Behnke, Anderson and junior Jenna Teson (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) all had two hits to lead the offense.
 
GAME 2 – AUGUSTANA 10, WHEATON 3
 
With Watson leading the way by going four for four with a home run and four RBI, the Vikings bounced back to pick up a much needed 10-7 win.
 
After a shaky start where she allowed three runs (only one was earned) in the first inning, Anderson settled down and went the distance to pick up the victory and move to 9-4 on the year. She only gave up five hits and three of those came in the first inning. She struck out three and didn't walk anybody.
 
Down 3-0, the Vikings scored two runs in each of the next three innings to take a 6-3 lead heading into the fourth. After a scoreless fourth, Augustana struck for three runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.
 
Watson drove in two runs in the first with a single to center and drove in two more in the fifth with her fourth home run of the season. Anderson knocked in a pair of runs in the second with a single up the middle. A double to center by senior Chaney Tambling (Dwight HS, Dwight, Ill.) in the third brought home another two runs.
 
Besides Watson's four-for-four day, Anderson, Tambling and sophomore Jennifer Gray (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) all had two hits as the Vikings knocked around three Wheaton hurlers for 15 hits.