CLERMONT, Fla. - The Augustana softball team continued its hot start to the 2019 season with two more wins in Clermont, Florida on Tuesday, February 26. The Vikings took down Milwaukee School of Engineering 10-2 and then beat Cabrini 8-1 to improve Augustana's season record to 5-1.
 
02/26/19 – AUGUSTANA 10, MSOE 2
The Vikings struck first in the bottom of the second inning against MSOE. Claire Weeks (Dundee-Crown HS, Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) led things off with a walk and Molly Wrenn (Geneva Community HS, Geneva, Ill.) advanced Weeks over to third base on a single. Wrenn would steal second base and Weeks would come home on the play to score the first run of the game. A two-out single to left field by Amanda Ray (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) drove in Wrenn to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead.
 
The Raiders would come back to tie the game in the top of the third inning. Julia Marsh, Rachel Ziemba, and Lauren Stefanczyk loaded the bases with one out in the inning. A two-RBI single to left field plated Marsh and Ziemba to tie the knot the game back at 2-2, but senior pitcher Kelcie Fredrickson (Fisher HS, Foosland, Ill.) was able to get out of the jam with the bases loaded.
 
Augustana jumped back out into the lead in the bottom half of the fourth. Wrenn singled to right field, Brittany Pospishil (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) was hit by a pitch, and catcher Kelsey Heiland (Mountain Vista HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) singled to load up the bases with one out. Ray delivered yet again with another RBI single to bring Wrenn in to score.
 
The Vikings opened up the flood gates in the bottom of the fifth inning, putting up a six spot on MSOE. Ashley Dehmlow (McHenry West HS, Spring Grove, Ill.) kicked things off with an infield single. Dehmlow would score on the next play as senior Carly Wilson (Johnsburg HS, Ringwood, Ill.) tripled to right field to make it a 4-2 game. Weeks, a freshman, brought Wilson home with an RBI single to right field and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Wrenn kept the rally going with a single to center that scored Weeks from second base. Wrenn would later score on an error by MSOE pitcher Sarah Grossman and Ray continued drove in her third run of the game on a groundout to second, bringing Pospishil in. Heiland would score the last run of the inning on a Dina Falk (Lake Park HS, Bloomingdale, Ill.) single to center to make it 9-2.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Augustana's bats brought the game to an end by going up eight runs after five innings. A pinch hit single by Jennifer Sears (Marist HS, New Lenox, Ill.) and a two-out RBI double to left field by Jannae Mehaffey (Cherry Creek HS, Englewood, Colo.) brought the score to 10-2 in favor of the Vikings.
 
Fredrickson pitched three innings, giving up the Raiders' only two runs of the game and striking out three batters. Freshman Erin Smith (Columbine HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) came in to pitch in the fourth inning and only allowed three hits in three innings of work, earning her first win as a Viking.
 
Wrenn went three-for-three on the day with an RBI and three runs scored. Ray had two hits and drove in three runs and Wilson had a three-for-three performance with one run scored and one RBI.
 
02/26/19 – AUGUSTANA 8, CABRINI 1
 
Augustana started the second game of the day off quickly with a leadoff home run to left field by Falk. The Vikings tacked on one more run in the top of the second inning after an RBI sacrifice bunt by Marissa Catalano (Lake Park HS, Medinah, Ill.) scored Wrenn, who singled earlier in the inning.
 
Wrenn started the top of the fourth inning with a double to left field and Erin Smith followed with a walk. Catalano increased the Augustana lead to 4-0 with a two-RBI single, plating both Wrenn and Smith.
 
Cabrini would score its lone run in the bottom of the fourth inning with a leadoff single by Faith Pitsikoullis and an RBI double by Amber Seamen. Those would be the only hits sophomore pitcher Cecelia Peine (Wentzville Holt HS, Wentzville, Mo.) would allow in her four innings of work.
 
The Vikings added three insurance runs in the top of the fifth inning. Tristan Bautista (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) brought Falk home with a single, Wrenn drove in Bautista with a single to right, and Smith tripled to center to bring in Wrenn to put Augustana up 7-1.
A Sarah Major (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill) single and a Sears double to left lifted the lead to 8-1 in the seventh inning.
 
Peine earned her first win of the season with four innings pitched, striking out five Cabrini batters and only allowing two hits and one run. Dehmlow came in for relief and threw three innings of one-hit softball and struck out three. The two combined to only allow three hits and one run on the day.
 
Wrenn continued her hot streak with a three-for-three performance with one RBI and three runs scored. She finished the day six-for-six with two RBI and six runs scored for the Vikings. Catalano drove in three runs on the day and Falk had two hits and two runs scored, including her home run in the first inning.