Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
PEORIA, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings softball team split their first two games of the season on Thursday at the Mount Mary Slugger Series, defeating the Lawrence Vikings 13-7 before falling in extra innings to the Dominican Stars by a score of 11-7.

Game One (W 13-7 vs. Lawrence)

Augie found themselves in an early deficit after Lawrence plated two in their opening at-bats, but responded with two of their own in the bottom half of the first thanks to RBI hits from Nichole Nash and Erin Smith.
 
The 2-2 score remained until the bottom of third when Augustana broke the tie with three more scores, this time manufacturing runs with an error and stolen base, followed by an RBI single from Josie Smith. Lawrence charge right back in the top of the fourth, pushing across four to take their first and only lead at 6-5.
 
In the bottom half of the fourth, Augustana erupted for six runs to regain control of the game. Nash and E. Smith started things off with back-to-back singles and the bases became loaded with a walk to follow. The Vikings then saw three runs come across without the benefit of a hit as two Lawrence errors and a passed ball made it 8-6 in Augie's favor. Morgan Bielfeldt and J. Smith broke the game open with consecutive run-scoring hits to stretch their advantage to four, eventually closing the inning with one more run on an RBI hit from Nash.
 
Bielfeldt and E. Smith each contributed one more run in the fifth and sixth innings for the Vikings to lead Augie to the 13-7 final score in game one of the two-day stay.
 
Augustana outhit Lawrence 11-4 in the contest, led by three from Nash and two each from Bielfeldt, E. Smith, and J. Smith. A total of five different players tallied two runs batted in.
 
Shaye Arwood earned the win on the mound in relief, going 3.1 innings and striking out five.

Game Two (L 11-7 vs. Dominican)

For the second straight game, the Vikings faced an early first-inning deficit after Dominican scored twice in their opening at-bat. An error in the second from the Stars allowed the Vikings to get on the board, eventually tying things up in the third on a Nadia Ranieri solo home run. The 2-2 score remained through the third and fourth innings.

Each team traded a three-spot in the fifth, beginning with the Vikings who saw runs come in on a two-run double from Bielfeldt, followed by an RBI single from Jannae Mehaffey. Dominican answered with three of their own on just one hit to bring a 5-5 score into the sixth.

The Vikings took the lead in the top of the sixth on a run-scoring single from Ranieri and took that lead into the seventh where they were just one out away from escaping with the win. Two errors in the inning, one with two outs, brought the tying run in for the Stars to force extras. Both teams went scoreless in the eighth and Augustana went out in front once more in the top of the ninth on a Mehaffey single up the middle. Dominican answered with the tying run in the bottom half and proceeded to end the game a few batters later on a two-out walk-off grand slam.

Augie outhit their opponent for the second consecutive time, led by Mehaffey's three singles. Three players for the Vikings each batted in two runs. Ranieri received the loss on the mound, but struck out six in just over four innings.

The Vikings sit at 1-1 after their first day in Peoria. The team will be back in action on Friday, February 25 against Edgewood at 10:00 a.m. and Lincoln at 2:30 p.m.