BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- A run in the top of the first inning proved to be enough for the Augustana Vikings softball team on Friday as they knocked off the North Central Cardinals by a score of 1-0 to advance in the CCIW Tournament. 

Alexis Duke began the game with a leadoff double for the Vikings and came around to score on the next play after a single up the middle by McKensey Stontz. Lauren Koster worked around a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half to keep the game at 1-0.

Anna Maciejewski and Marley Behm each collected singles in the second, and Stontz had a leadoff hit in the third, but the 1-0 score remained intact. Koster did not allow another base runner until the fourth, working around a leadoff single to keep the Cardinals off the board. An error by the Vikings extended the inning and put a runner in scoring position in the sixth, but Koster stranded them after a strikeout looking. A lineout double play in the bottom of the seventh sealed the win for Augie.

The Vikings had eight hits as a team, led by two from Duke and a 3-3 effort from Stontz. Koster struck out five on the mound and earned her 15th win of the season.

Augustana will take on the loser of Millikin and Illinois Wesleyan tonight at 6 p.m. in another elimination game.