Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
CLERMONT, Fla. -- The Augustana Vikings softball team picked up a pair of wins on Sunday at THE Spring Games to improve to 8-2 on the season, defeating the Buffalo State Bengals in five innings by a score of 11-3 before knocking off the Bowdoin Polar Bears in the finale by a final of 4-3.

Game one (W 11-3 vs. Buffalo State)

A sacrifice fly from Nichole Nash got the Vikings on the board in the first, but most of the damage was done in the second inning as Augustana plated six runs to improve their advantage to seven. Nash picked up two more RBI in the frame with a single up the middle, followed by run-scoring hits from Erin Smith and Morgan Bielfeldt. A wild pitch and an error accounted for the other two scores and Vikings led 7-0 after two complete.

The Bengals inched closer with three runs in the top of the third, but the Vikings earned one back in the bottom half on a Sydney Ohrtmann RBI bunt single. A sacrifice fly from Bielfeldt, along with a wild pitch and RBI hit from Claudia Buchholz, allowed Augie to stretch their lead in the fourth. The team went on to keep Buffalo State off of the scoreboard in the fifth to pick up a win in their first outing of THE Spring Games.

Nash and Ohrtmann both collected multi-hit games for the Vikings in game one. Shaye Arwood picked up the win on the mound for Augie after going four innings and striking out six.

Game two (W 4-3 vs. Bowdoin)

The Vikings picked up a win in comeback fashion in the second contest of the day against the Polar Bears. Augustana found themselves on the board early for the second straight game, again benefitting from a Nash RBI hit in the first inning. The 1-0 lead for the Vikings remained until the third when they added one more, this time on a run-producing single from Nadia Ranieri. The Polar Bears tallied one back in the fourth, but pushed two across in the fifth to take control with a 3-2 advantage.

The 3-2 deficit for the Vikings stood in tact all the way up until their final at-bat in the top of the seventh. The frame started with a single from Ashley Dehmlow, followed by a bunt to move her to second base. Once again, Nash came through for the Vikings, singling a ball up the middle to knot the game at 3-3. She was able to advance to second on the throw and move over to third on another hit from Erin Smith. With one away, Bielfeldt sent one to center to bring in Nash on a sacrifice to give the Vikings the lead.

In the bottom half of the seventh, the Polar Bears pushed the tying run to third with two outs, but were unable to bring her in as Augie escaped with the 4-3 victory.

Both Smith and Nash had two hits apiece to lead the Vikings in game two. 

With the wins, Augustana improves to 8-2 on the season. The team will be back in action on Monday, March 21 against Hamilton. First pitch is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. CST.