Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Augustana dropped two contests Saturday at Washington University's Mizuno Invitational. The Vikings fell 6-5 to Wartburg in eight innings before losing 9-1 to the hosts later in the day. Augustana is now 7-9 on the season. Tournament play concludes on Sunday, March 20, with the Vikings taking on the same two clubs.
 
WARTBURG 6, AUGUSTANA 5 (8)
 
In Augustana's  first game of the day, Payton Hilby bunted in Hannah Blaske with the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning and Wartburg pitcher Kimberly Wedeking stranded two Vikings runners in the bottom half to lock up a 6-5 win.
 
Augustana trailed 5-4 going to the bottom of the seventh, but freshman Taylor Belo (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a passed ball. Senior Ashley Anderson (Sherrard HS, Viola, Ill.) followed with a single and Belo came around to score the tying run on a Knight error. A double by junior Brittany Kellett (The Woodlands HS, The Woodlands, Texas) and a single by freshman Isabelle Anderson (Alleman HS, Rock Island, Ill.) put Vikings at second and third with one, but Wedeking escaped further damage. Pinch-runner Clare Kramer (Prophetstown HS, Lyndon, Ill.) was cut down at the plate on a Zayne Blumberg (Rock Canyon HS, Denver, Colo.) grounder and Kate Didier (Prairie Ridge HS, Cary, Ill.) grounded to first to end the inning.
 
The score was 1-1 after an inning. Mara Forsyth hit a solo home run to give Wartburg a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and a leadoff triple by Carly Wilson (Johnsburg HS, Ringwood, Ill.) and a Belo RBI grounder tied it at 1-1 in the bottom half.
 
Ashley Anderson delivered an RBI single in the second as Augustana scored twice to take a 3-1 lead. However, the Vikings had another runner thrown out at the plate.
 
Wartburg tied it on Brenna Gray's two-run single in the fifth and went up 5-3 with two more runs in the sixth. Alaina Hofmann's (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) RBI single in the bottom of the sixth drew Augustana to within 5-4.
 
Ashley Anderson (4-5) was the tough-luck loser. She started and went two innings before returning to the circle in the sixth. The lefty totaled five innings, allowing five hits and two runs, just one of which was earned. She walked none and fanned six.
 
Kellett, Ashley Anderson and sophomore Jordan Arndt (Lockport HS, Lockport, Ill.) each had two of the Vikings' 13 hits.
 
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 9, AUGUSTANA 1
 
This contest was scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Washington's Taylor Arends gave her club the lead with a two-run triple to right center. Brooke Hofer plated Arends with a single to right and the Bears led 3-0 after three.
 
Augustana got on the board in the top of the fourth. Belo led off with a triple to right and scored on an Ashley Anderson sacrifice fly to left.
 
The hosts closed the game out via mercy rule with a six-run fifth. Janet Taylor and Ashley Madsen each had two-run singles in the frame.
 
Viking starter Ashley Anderson suffered her sixth loss in 10 decisions this year. She allowed six hits and three runs in three innings of work. Senior Kendra Rakers (Belleville West HS, Millstadt, Ill.) finished up in the circle. Bear starter Annie Pitkin limited Augustana to just four hits and improved to 10-2 on the season.