The Augustana Vikings softball team spent much of last spring proving they belonged among the top teams in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). Now, as they enter the 2026 season, they look to prove they can finish the job.
After posting a 12-4 conference record and reaching the CCIW championship game for the first time since 2015, the Vikings enter the new season with heightened expectations and a clear objective: win the conference title for the first time since 2006. In the CCIW preseason coaches poll, Augustana was picked second and received two first-place votes, reflecting the respect the program earned during last year’s deep postseason run.
For head coach John Nelson, however, outside expectations carry little weight. What matters, he says, is the daily work that happens long before conference standings begin to take shape.
“We have our own standards, which are higher than that,” Nelson said. “Polls and rankings and that kind of stuff to me, that’s just noise. What we do on a daily basis, how we handle our business and just taking things one day at a time, that’s what’s most important.”
That mindset has defined the offseason for a roster that returns seven starters from last year’s team. Many of those players experienced both the excitement of reaching the conference title game and the disappointment of falling just short against Illinois Wesleyan University, a moment that continues to motivate the program.
Nelson said the experience left a visible mark on the team’s mentality.
“It definitely made them hungry,” Nelson said. “It gave them a taste of what that moment is like. If you look around my desk, there are notes they’ve left me about being conference champions. That’s the goal of the team: to get back there and compete.”
Sophomore infielder Alexis Duke said the team has approached the new season with that same determination.
“We didn’t lose many people from our starting lineup, so we’re coming in with the same intensity,” Duke said. “We know the work we had to put in last season to be successful, and we’re working just as hard to stay at the top this year.”
Despite the returning experience, the Vikings will begin the season navigating a significant challenge. Senior pitcher Lauren Koster, the team’s top returning arm, suffered a labrum tear that will likely sideline her for most of the season.
The injury removes a key presence from the pitching rotation, but Koster has remained closely involved with the team throughout her recovery.
“She’s been absolutely phenomenal through all of this,” Nelson said. “She’s been at every practice she can be at and has been there to lead the team. Even though she’s injured, she’s still doing everything she can to support everyone else.”
While Koster works toward a possible late-season return, Augustana strengthened its pitching staff through both recruiting and the transfer portal. Sophomore transfer Maya Brown arrives from Parkland after previously playing for Nelson’s travel ball program, and the Vikings also added Addie Garr from the University of Indianapolis. Along with returning pitcher Mikaylin Hofer, the group will be tasked with carrying much of the pitching workload early in the season.
The roster also includes a promising recruiting class. First-Years Lindsay LaVine, A’Rion Lonergan and Madi Bickell each bring different strengths to the lineup, and Nelson has consistently shown a willingness to rely on younger players if they earn the opportunity.
That openness has helped create competition throughout preseason practices, something sophomore Aubrey Gradin said has strengthened the team heading into the year.
“I think last year gave us a lot of confidence,” Gradin said. “Now it’s kind of the standard for us. We want to finish first in the conference, host the tournament and hopefully make it all the way to the Division III College World Series.”
Gradin also pointed to the team’s chemistry as one of its biggest strengths entering the season. The returning core has spent significant time together both on and off the field, creating a culture that players believe can help carry them through the long schedule ahead.
That environment reflects another one of Nelson’s guiding philosophies. Rather than naming official captains, the program allows leadership to emerge naturally within the team.
“I don’t believe in voting on captains,” Nelson said. “Leaders are anointed. When people follow you because they believe in what you’re doing and in the culture you’re building, that’s when you become their leader.”
As the season approaches, the Vikings expect strong competition throughout the conference. Illinois Wesleyan remains the defending champion, and programs such as Carthage College, Millikin University and North Central College have all proven capable of challenging for the top of the standings.
Still, Augustana believes last year’s run showed the team exactly what it is capable of achieving.
The Vikings open their season March 19 with a home doubleheader against Buena Vista University before traveling to Florida for a stretch of early-season games. For Nelson, the approach remains simple.
“We try to win one pitch at a time,” he said. “If their pitcher throws a ball out of the zone and we don’t chase, we won that pitch. Next pitch, new pitch. Every pitch is a challenge.”
For a team that came within one game of a championship last spring, that philosophy has become the foundation for another run at the top of the conference.
