Vibes were high for the Augustana softball team as they head into the last stretch of the regular season. In their last eight games before the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament, the team hosted CCIW foes North Central College, Elmhurst University, and No. 6 Simpson College, before traveling to No. 15 Wartburg College.
Heading into the team’s series against the 15-15 North Central Cardinals, the Vikings were tasked with facing off against some of the best pitchers in the CCIW. Up to that point, the Cardinals’ pitchers had a combined team ERA of 2.48, the lowest of any conference team. Despite their even .500 record, senior Emma Evans, with all of her experience, knows that you cannot overlook a team and you need to take one game at a time.
“We want to hit, we want to do damage when we go up to bat,” Evans said. “But another thing is not ever looking past anyone, because our conference is very competitive, and there’s been some upsets. So it’s taking things one step at a time, realizing that you might only get three at-bats in a game, but doing something quality with everything you get, and being prepared for every ball.”
In game one against the Cardinals, the Vikings scored the game’s first two runs, with an RBI bunt from Evans in the fourth inning and then a double the following inning from sophomore Aubrey Gradin, which scored sophomore Alexis Duke. Despite a two-run sixth inning from North Central that knotted up the game, junior Emma Schmidt singled in the next half-inning that scored the eventual game-winning run.
Game two, however, the Vikings’ fortunes reversed, and despite recording the same amount of hits total as the Cardinals, the team was shut out 4-0 after failing to convert with runners on base.
Next up was their senior day matchup against the Elmhurst Blue Jays, who, despite their 11-27 record, still were in contention for a CCIW Tournament spot. Opposite of North Central, Elmhurst’s team ERA was by far the highest in the conference, sitting near 5.87. Head Coach John Nelson, though he includes it on the scouting report, looks past just numbers like that.
“It’s all on our scouting report,” Nelson said. “We look at what pitches they chase at, what their chase rate is, and things like that. It’s not so much that we’re looking at their stats. Their ERA just tells us that a lot of teams have scored a lot of runs on them. That doesn’t mean we will, because we could be a bad matchup.”
Right out of the gate, the Vikings got on the scoreboard with a Gradin RBI single, which was followed by a two-run single from Duke and another single by First-Year A’rion Lonergan in the next inning, which extended the lead to 4-0. The Vikings continued to pile on runs, including a grand slam by Gradin, and despite a late Blue Jay rally, the Vikings took home a 9-6 win.
Game two proved to be closer than the first, and after back-to-back home runs from Gradin and Duke, the offense was held in check by the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays tied the game in the top of the fifth inning, but Duke singled to give Augustana the lead right back in the bottom of the inning, a lead that would last until the final out, with the Vikings holding on to win 3-2.
With their conference season coming to a close, the last two series of the regular season were against nationally ranked teams, the first being against No. 6 Simpson at home. While it might be a little intimidating to play against a team that is nationally ranked, senior Maya Viel is no rookie to facing off against tough opponents and understands the mindset needed going into those games.
“We go into those games thinking of being on the other side of playing those teams that aren’t as strong in our conference,” Viel said. “Anyone can beat anyone on any day like we can. We could go into the games against Simpson, who’s ranked … number six, and maybe Mya [Brown] goes in the pitch, and they can’t figure her out. That stuff happens all the time, so we just go into it, and we play our best.”
In perfect weather throughout the game, the Vikings’ offense struggled to get on the board, mustering up only two hits in game one, and eventually fell 7-0.
In game two, though, Duke hit a leadoff home run that gave the Vikings the lead, but it would be the only run the Vikings scored. They were defeated, 3-1.
The second of two series against ranked opponents was against the No. 15 Wartburg Knights on the road.
In the first game, Wartburg took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly in the first inning and never looked back, winning 6-1 despite the Vikings outhitting the Knights.
Game two was closer, with the Vikings striking first on a two-run single by senior Marley Behm in the top of the second, but Wartburg responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to gain a lead they would never relinquish, defeating Augustana 5-4.
As the regular season ends, the Vikings have to focus on the postseason and the upcoming CCIW Tournament. While the team’s current record sits at 19-20, they have an 11-5 conference record, due in part to an eight-game winning streak towards the end of the season. First-Year Madi Bickell recognized that the win streak was the time for all of it to come together.
“We had a couple teammates leave over the winter, and J-term is a grind, especially [since] we practice at five in the morning,” Bickell said. “So just overcoming everything, and especially with not really starting off the season strong, I feel like we’ve really come together and put it together.”
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Vikings travelled to Bloomington to take on the CCIW tournament as the three-seed. Augustana would battle their way to the championship game before falling to the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans, 5-4.
