Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Freshman Zayne Blumberg (Rock Canyon HS, Denver, Colo.) singled in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and classmate Shelby Grandt (Broomfield HS, Broomfield, Colo.) helped her own cause, driving in another run, as Augustana won game two 6-4 to earn a doubleheader split with 9th-ranked North Central Saturday at Shanower Family Field. The Vikings, now 23-12 overall and 5-7 in the CCIW, dropped the opener 4-0. The Cardinals move to 30-4 on the season and 11-3 in the league.
 
NORTH CENTRAL 4, AUGUSTANA 0
 
North Central ace Andrea Starr limited Augustana to just four singles in the opener to improve to 18-2 on the year.
 
Laura Behnke (St. Francis HS, Roselle, Ill.) led off the game with a single to left, but was eventually stranded at third. The only other time the Vikings threatened was in the seventh. Junior Ashley Anderson (Sherrard HS, Viola, Ill.) had a leadoff single and Blumberg a one-out single, but one batter later, pinch-runner Jordan Arndt (Lockport HS, Lockport, Ill.) was cut down at third to end the game. The only other Augustana base runner came on Brittany Kellett's (The Woodlands HS, The Woodlands, Texas) infield hit in the fifth.
 
North Central took a 1-0 lead off Ashley Anderson in the second. Carly Trenhaile led off with a bunt single and one batter later, Amanda Walker doubled her in with the only run Starr would need.
 
The Cardinals added three in the sixth. Jordyn Beck's two-run pinch-hit single was the big hit.
 
Ashley Anderson took the loss, falling to 7-7 on the season. She gave up seven hits and walked three. Only three of the four runs she allowed were earned.
 
AUGUSTANA 6, NORTH CENTRAL 4
 
Both teams stranded two runners in the first inning of the nightcap. Senior Christie Wiersema (Morrison HS, Morrison, Ill.) stranded two more Cardinals in the top of the second before Augustana—the designated home team—finally got to Starr for three runs in the bottom of the frame.
 
Senior Chelsea Lavin started the inning by reaching on a two-base error. One out later, sophomore Ashley Klauss (Trinity HS, Chicago, Ill.) singled her in with the game's first run. Senior Jenna Teson (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) added an RBI single in the inning and Ashley Anderson drove in a run with a groundout.
 
Grandt came on to relieve Wiersema in the circle after back-to-back home runs by Cecie Portillo and Kiersten Tinkoff in the top of the third. The freshman right-hander retired three straight Cardinals to get the Vikings out of the inning, but North Central took the lead with two unearned runs in the fourth. Portillo had an RBI single.
 
Augustana came right back to re-take the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Jennifer Gray (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) reached on a one-out error and Behnke doubled to left. Teson reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases and Ashley Anderson drew a base on balls, forcing in Gray with the tying run. Blumberg drove in the go-ahead run with a single to center and Grandt fielder's choice grounder plated Teson with an insurance run.
 
Grandt allowed a baserunner in each of the last three innings, but all came with two out and none advanced past first base. She gave up just three singles and a walk in five innings, while fanning two, to improve to 8-3 on the year. Starr went the distance and suffered just her third loss in 21 decisions.
 
Behnke was 3-for-3 with a run scored. Gray was 2-for-3 and scored twice and Ashley Anderson was 1-for-3 with two knocked in.
 
The Vikings host North Park in a twin bill at Carver Field at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28. The doubleheader is a make-up of one that's already been postponed twice.