DECATUR, Ill. — Augustana got CCIW Tournament play underway Thursday at Workman Family Field. The Vikings opened the day by waiting out a lightning delay on their way to a 5-4 win over Elmhurst—the team's seventh straight victory. They fell 9-5 to top-seeded host Millikin later in the day. Coach Kris Kistler's club, 14-26 on the season, is scheduled to face Carroll at noon on Saturday, May 8, also in Decatur.
 
AUGUSTANA 5, ELMHURST 4
 
After Cecelia Peine (Holt HS, Wentzville, Mo.) set the Bluejays (9-21) down in order in the top of the first, Augustana benefitted from three Elmhurst errors and a passed ball to score four in the bottom half. Molly Wrenn (Geneva HS, Geneva Ill.) led off with a single to left and eventually scored on an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Erin Smith (Columbine HS, Highlands Ranch, Colo.). Ashley Dehmlow (McHenry West HS, Spring Grove, Ill.) doubled in Claire Weeks (Dundee-Crown HS, Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) with the final run of the inning.
 
The Bluejays cut the deficit in half with two in the third. Alyssa Filkowski and Jenna Geraci each had an RBI single to center.
 
Tristan Bautista (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) had a one-out single in the fifth and came around to score on Weeks' RBI single to right, giving the Vikings a 5-2 advantage.
 
Smith relieved Peine to start the fourth and retired the first seven batters she faced. She ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up a walk, a single and a wild pitch that put runners at second and third before lightning delayed the contest for nearly an hour. When play resumed, an Amaya Chavez fielder's choice plated one run and another scored on an error to make it 5-4.
 
Augustana couldn't take advantage of Dehmlow's leadoff double in the bottom of the sixth, but Smith threw a 1-2-3 seventh to finish off the win.
 
Smith was credited with the win, moving to 4-8 on the year. She allowed just one hit and two runs (one earned) in four innings of relief. Bluejay starter Jena Hicks (2-5) went the distance and took the loss.
 
Dehmlow had two doubles in three at-bats and Wrenn finished 2-for-4. Bautista scored twice.
 
MILLIKIN 9, AUGUSTANA 5
 
Smith doubled down the left field line with two outs in the top of the first and Nadia Ranieri (Riverside-Brookfield HS, North Riverside, Ill.) followed with an RBI single to center to give herself a 1-0 lead.
 
The advantage was short-lived however, as Millikin (28-11) got to Ranieri for five runs in the second. A hit batter leading off led to the first run, which scored on Rylee Blake's RBI infield hit. Two more scored on a bases-loaded hit batter and a wild pitch and Leah Foreman singled in the last run.
 
The Big Blue added two against reliever Amanda Page (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) in the third to go up 7-1.
 
Millikin starter Aly Armstrong held the Vikings until the sixth. Wrenn drew a leadoff walk and Olivia Blood (Riverside-Brookfield HS, North Riverside, Ill.) followed with a single. Smith's single to left center scored Wrenn and Blood and Smith scored on a separate errors to make it 7-4 after 5½.
 
The Big Blue scored two in the bottom of the sixth before Blood's RBI double in the top of the seventh plated Josie Smith (St. Francis HS, Wheaton, Ill.) to make it 9-5. Reliever Bailey Coffman coaxed a comebacker from Erin Smith to end the contest.
 
Ranieri fell to 5-7 with the loss. Armstrong got the win to improve to 16-4.
 
Blood, Erin Smith and Ranieri all went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Erin Smith scored twice.