Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana shook off a slow start to win 10-1 in game one Tuesday and left no doubt in the nightcap, scoring 11 runs in the first two innings of a 12-1 victory that completed a doubleheader sweep of Knox at Carver Field. The 20th-ranked Vikings improved to 18-7-1 on the year, while the Prairie Fire fell to 0-16.
 
AUGUSTANA 10, KNOX 1
 
Knox took an early 1-0 lead in the opener. Augustana starter Alaina Hofmann (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) hit Chelsey Howard with a pitch to start the top of the second inning. Howard moved to second on a Dominique Scott single, to third on an infield grounder and scored the game's first run on another groundout.
 
In the bottom of the third, junior Jordan Marshall (Galesburg HS, St. Augustine, Ill.) led off with an infield hit and sophomore Allie Bettenhausen (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) and freshman Shelby Grandt (Broomfield HS, Broomfield, Colo.) had RBI singles as the Vikings took the lead.
 
Freshman Jordan Arndt (Lockport HS, Lockport, Ill.) had a two-run double in the fourth and sophomore Amanda Ebert (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) a two-run homer in the fifth as Augustana extended its lead to 6-1.
 
Grandt relieved Hofmann to start the fourth and held Knox scoreless for three innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Marshall led off with a walk. Jordan Arndt followed with a single and junior Kendra Rakers' (Belleville West HS, Millstadt, Ill.) bunt single and a throwing error scored Marshall. That brought Bettenhausen to the plate and the Viking first baseman ended the contest early with a three-run homer over the left center field fence.
 
Jordan Arndt was 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot. Rakers, Bettenhausen, Grandt and Ebert each had two hits. Marshall scored three times. Bettenhausen drove in four runs and Jordan Arndt and Ebert two each. Hofmann gave up two hits and a run in three innings, walking none and fanning one. Grandt allowed two hits and a walk in three shutout innings and was credited with the win to go 6-3 on the year.
 
AUGUSTANA 12, KNOX 1
 
Senior Christie Wiersema (Morrison HS, Morrison, Ill.) struck out the side in the top of the first and she and her teammates put six runs on the board in the bottom of the frame. Jordan Arndt drew a leadoff walk and scored the game's first run on a wild pitch. Wiersema knocked in a run with a single and junior Taylor Ambrozi (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) another with a sacrifice fly. Sophomore Krista Dawson (Niles West, Lincolnwood, Ill.), junior Jennifer Gray (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) and Jordan Arndt added RBI singles in the inning.
 
Wiersema and Dawson each had an RBI double in a five-run Augustana second and Kate Didier doubled in Christina Pagan (West HS, Normal, Ill.) with the Vikings' final run in the fourth. Rakers relieved Wiersema and set the Prairie Fire down in order in the top of the fifth to end the game early.
 
Wiersema went four innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run. She walked none, fanned six and improved to 3-1 with the win. In addition, she was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three driven in. Dawson matched her stat line at the plate. Pagan and Ebert also scored twice.
 
Augustana hosts Carthage in a CCIW doubleheader Saturday, April 11 at 1:00 p.m.