ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana rode an eight-run fourth inning to a 12-7 win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader at Carver Field. The Vikings offense cooled off in the nightcap, as Coach Kris Kistler's club fell 5-1. Both teams are now 11-9 on the season. Augustana hosts Luther for a twin bill on Wednesday, April 3 at 1:00 p.m.

 

AUGUSTANA 12, UW-STEVENS POINT 7
 
Trailing 6-2, the Vikings exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth. Brittany Pospishil (Lincoln-Way East HS, Mokena, Ill.) reached on an error leading off and scored one out later on Alyssa Klahn's (Lincoln-Way Central HS, New Lenox, Ill.) double to center. After a Carly Wilson (Johnsburg HS, Ringwood, Ill.) single, Ashley Dehmlow (McHenry West, Spring Grove, Ill.) plated Klahn with a single to make it 6-4. Taylor Belo's (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) RBI single pulled the hosts to within a run and Dehmlow scored on a bases loaded walk to Nichole Nash (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) to tie it at 6-6. Pospishil capped the inning with a grand slam to right center that gave Augustana a 10-6 lead.
 
The Vikings added two runs in the fifth, when Claire Weeks (Dundee-Crown HS, Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) doubled in a run and scored on an error.
 
The Pointers tallied an unearned run off reliever Erin Smith (Columbine HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) in the top of the seventh, but she left a pair of runners stranded to preserve the win.
 
Stevens Point led 6-0 after 2½ innings. Ashley Cohen led off the game with a home run and Madi Greenaberg added a first-inning RBI single.  The Pointers plated an unearned run in the second, but Viking starter Kelcie Fredrickson (Fisher HS, Foosland, Ill.) escaped further damage, leaving the bases loaded. UWSP got to Fredrickson for three in the third.
 
Dehmlow got Augustana on the board when she singled in two runs in the bottom of the third.
 
Smith went the final four innings, surrendering just two hits and an unearned run. She walked three and fanned six to pick up her second win in as many decisions this year. Pointer Anna Palicka (5-7) took the loss.
 
Wilson went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and Dehmlow 3-for-4 with three RBI. Klahn (three runs) and Weeks each had a pair of hits and Pospishil scored twice and knocked in four.
 
UW-STEVENS POINT 5, AUGUSTANA 1
 
The Pointers scored two each in the sixth and seventh innings to win the nightcap.
 
Each team scored a run in the third. Stevens Point got to Vikings starter Cecelia Peine (Holt HS, Wentzville, Ill.) for an unearned run in the top half and Klahn had a two-out single and eventually stole home to tie it in the bottom of the frame.
 
Maddie Candre led off the top of the sixth with a double and Greenaberg followed with a walk, knocking out Peine in favor of Dehmlow. The Augustana reliever retired two straight batters, but an error kept the inning alive and Candre and Greenaberg both scored to make it 3-1 UWSP after 5½.
 
The Pointers gave Cohen two insurance runs in the top of the seventh and the Stevens Point starter pitched around an error in the bottom half to close out a complete game win.
 
Cohen (1-1) scattered seven hits and didn't walk a batter while striking out three. Peine (2-3) suffered the tough-luck loss despite not allowing an earned run in five innings of work.
 
Belo and Nash each finished with two hits for the Vikings.