Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CLERMONT, Fla. – Coach Kris Kistler's Augustana softball team split a pair of shutouts Thursday, opening the 2016 season with a 20-0 pasting of Lyndon State before falling 5-0 at the hands of Concordia-Moorhead. The Vikings (1-1) will be back in action in Florida on Saturday, February 27, taking on Ohio Northern at 9:00 a.m. EST and getting a rematch with Concordia at 11:00 a.m. EST.
 
AUGUSTANA 20, LYNDON STATE 0
 
Augustana pounded out 12 hits and benefited from nine Lyndon State errors in winning its season opener 20-0. Sophomore Shelby Grandt (Broomfield HS, Broomfield, Colo.) and senior Kendra Rakers (Belleville West HS, Millstadt, Ill.) split time in the circle, with Grandt (1-0) going the first three innings for the win and Rakers finishing up the contest, which was shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.
 
After a scoreless first, Augustana got an RBI double from freshman Carly Wilson (Johnsburg HS, Ringwood, Ill.) and a run-scoring single from sophomore Jordan Arndt (Lockport HS, Lockport, Ill.) to take a 2-0 lead in the second.
 
The Vikings took advantage of eight Hornet miscues over the next two frames to put the game out of reach with 15 more runs. They added three in the top of the fifth.
 
Grandt had a big game at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two driven in. Junior Amanda Ebert (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) came off the bench to go 2-for-3 with two scored and three knocked in. Wilson (2-for-2, three runs) and Arndt (2-for-3, two runs, two RBI) enjoyed productive games also, along with senior Jennifer Gray (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.), who had a two-run double and scored twice.
 
CONCORDIA-MOORHEAD 5, AUGUSTANA 0
 
In Augustana's second game of the day, Cobber Abigail Haraldson handcuffed the Vikings on just three hits and her teammates gave her all the runs she would need with a pair in the top of the first.
 
Concordia's Cora Zackrinson reached on a one-out infield hit in the first and scored the first run one batter later when Nicole Johannnes touched Augustana starter Ashley Anderson (Sherrard HS, Viola, Ill.) for an RBI single to left. The Cobbers added an unearned run later in the inning.
 
Anderson shut Concordia out over the next four innings, but the Cobbers added three in the sixth. Sydney Robert's two-run double to left was the big hit.
 
Meanwhile Haraldson was handling the Vikings with little trouble. Wilson, who had a leadoff single and a stolen base in the second and a leadoff double in the seventh was the only Augustana player to reach scoring position. Sophomore Haylie Arndt (Lockport HS, Lockport, Ill.) accounted for the Vikings' only other hit, a two-out single in the fifth.
 
Haraldson walked one and fanned eight in going the full seven innings. Anderson (1-0) went the distance for Augustana, allowing eight hits and five runs, only two of which were earned. She struck out six without issuing a walk.