CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings softball team split a doubleheader with the North Park Vikings on Sunday to begin CCIW play, taking game one by a score of 3-2 before falling in game two with a final of 9-8.

Game One (W 3-2)

Pitching and defense were on display in the first game as the two teams combined for just five hits in seven innings. North Park found themselves on the board first with a run in the second and one in the fourth for a 2-0 lead. In the top of the fifth, a double and two walks loaded the bases for Augustana with one away, pushing their first in on a passed ball before an RBI groundout from Ashyln Mathers evened the game at two runs apiece. Augie claimed the lead on an error to put them up 3-2 after 4.5 innings.

North Park went the final three innings without a hit and saw just one base runner in the sixth inning on a walk. Augustana retired NPU in order in the bottom of the seventh to squeak out the game one victory. Nadia Ranieri went all seven innings for the Vikings, allowing just the two hits and two runs while striking out nine. Kennedy Williams and Sydney Ohrtmann both reached base twice with a hit and a walk.

Game Two (L 9-8)

The second game of the doubleheader brought a lot more offense as the teams connected on 27 hits between the two. Augie got on the board right away in the bottom of the first, using an RBI triple from Nichole Nash and sacrifice fly from Claire Weeks to jump-start the scoring.

North Park responded with four in the third and two in the fifth to bring their lead to 6-2 at the time. In the bottom half, a triple from Josie Smith came in to score thanks to a single from Nash to shrink the deficit by one. NPU countered right back, pushing across three more in the top half of the sixth to cushion their advantage to 9-3. Augie did not go down without a fight, plating four in their next at-bat on five hits that was fueled by a bases-clearing double from Nash.

In the seventh, the Vikings put two on with one out and eventually brought in a run on an RBI groundout to make it 9-8. With a runner on second, North Park got out of the jam to escape with the one-point win and earn a split on the day.

Four different Vikings had a multi-hit effort in game two, led by Nash's three hits and five RBI, as well as three hits from Smith. Ranieri and Ohrtmann also collected two hits apiece. 

With the results, Augustana is now 13-6 and 1-1 in conference. The team will be back in action on Wednesday, April 6 in a non-conference doubleheader at Dubuque. Start time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.