ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings softball team will be back home on Thursday, April 13 when they welcome the Dubuque Spartans for a non-conference doubleheader.

Augustana is currently 10-12 overall on the season, recently dropping a pair of road games at Millikin on Saturday by scores of 9-0 and 6-4. Augie fought back in game two to claim a 4-3 lead, but the Big Blue went ahead in their final at-bat in the top of the 7th to steal the 6-4 victory. One day prior, the Vikings split a series with Carthage in their first home games of the season, allowing just three runs in 19 combined innings across two games. Nadia Ranieri pitched 15.1 innings in the doubleheader and struck out 21 batters on her way to a second straight CCIW Pitcher of the Week award.

Dubuque enters Thursday sporting an 8-18 overall, recently dropping a pair of one-run games at home to Wartburg. The Spartans began the year losing nine of their first 10 games, but bounced back with a mid-season five-game winning streak. Dubuque has lost their last five non-conference games, with the most recent a 10-3 loss to UW-Platteville on March 30.

The Vikings lead the all-time series over the Spartans, 19-6. Thursday will be the teams' first meeting since 2019, which resulted in a doubleheader sweep for Dubuque in Rock Island. The wins for the Spartans snapped a three-game winning streak for the Vikings in the series. 

Start time for game one is scheduled for 4 p.m. from Carver Field.