Latest news with #Augustana
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Viking Softball rallies to force game three, falls short of Super Regional title
EDMOND, Okla. (Augustana) – Facing a win-or-go-home situation, Augustana softball found power late to claim game two of the NCAA Super Regional and force the 'if necessary' game before falling to the top seed in the central region, Central Oklahoma, on Friday afternoon. The Vikings conclude their season as the No. 6 team in the nation with a dominant 50-11 record after cruising through both the NSIC Tournament and the NCAA Central Region 2 Tournament and at one point holding a 24-game win streak. It is the 14th time in program history that a Viking softball team has eclipsed the 50-win mark. Friday also marked the final games in the careers of Liz Dierks, Grace Glanzer, Hailey Houston and Lexi Lander. SUPER REGIONAL GAME TWO: No. 3 Seed Augustana 5, No. 1 Seed Central Oklahoma 1Much like yesterday's face-off, the Bronchos again scored early but the Vikings responded dominantly to secure the 5-1 win to force a winner-take-all game in the Central Super Regional. A single, a groundout and a walk put runners and first and second base for UCO, who soon scored off a single on the ensuing at-bat to open up scoring and take the 1-0 lead. The Viking offense struggled to get hot, but pitching from Glanzer helped push the strong defensive showing and keep the Bronchos from advancing any further than first base. After downing UCO in order in the top of the fifth inning, AU stepped up to bat and quickly was facing two outs. Ashton Dorman broke the stalemate with a single to left field and was followed by a single from Ella Cooper to put two on base. The two-out rally continued in powerful fashion as Stella Harber ripped a three-run homer over the center field fence on the first pitch of her at-bat to score Augustana's first runs of the Super Regional and take the 3-1 lead. The Bronchos again fell 1-2-3 in the sixth—including two more strikeouts for Glanzer—and brought in a new pitcher before Sidney Smart's trip to the plate. A single, a bunt and a throwing error loaded the bases for the Vikings before a double play took the runner at second. But that brought in Lander, who cleared the bases with her double down the left field to score two more and put the Vikings firmly ahead 5-1 heading into the final inning. All it took was another three-up, three-down showing from the dominant Viking defense to secure the win and force another contest for the Central Super Region title. Eight Vikings combined for 11 hits, led by Harber's 3-for-3 performance at the plate. She led with three RBI as Lander added in two more alongside the lone double of the day and Dorman drew the only walk for AU. Glanzer grabbed the win in the circle to improve to 27-7 this season, allowing just one run in her seven innings of work. She tallied eight strikeouts with eight fly outs and five groundouts against 28 batters faced. SUPER REGIONAL GAME THREE: No. 1 Seed Central Oklahoma 5, No. 3 Seed Augustana 1UCO struck first and continued to push with a strong fourth inning despite Augustana's best efforts to divert the rally as the Vikings eventually fell 5-1 in the final winner-take-all game of the regional. Lander got the start in the circle and quickly downed the first three batters on the day to kick off game three. The Bronchos also left three on base in the top of the second inning as the Vikings tallied the first hit of the game in the bottom half of that inning. But the Bronchos soon gained traction. Central Oklahoma scored one in the third after a double, groundout and a fielder's choice as lengthy series of challenges and reviews erased a possible Augustana run. Then in the fourth, a base hit and a sacrifice bunt put a UCO runner on second base before another single, fielder's choice and a triple to the right center wall cleared the bases for three more runs. Augustana would go on to fall in order in the next two innings before the Bronchos added in another run in the top of the sixth. Cain drew a walk in the top half of the inning and advanced to second off a groundout before eventually scoring off a single from Dorman. Yet the seventh inning saw both squads downed 1-2-3 to end in a 5-1 loss for AU. Cain, Desi Cuevas, Dorman, Harber and Norah Christiansen combined for the five AU hits on the day as Dorman logged one RBI. Cain knocked the lone double in the game as she and Cuevas each tallied a walk. Lander took the loss in the circle to move to 20-4 overall this season. She allowed two runs in three innings of work while tallying two strikeouts. Glanzer also made an appearance in four innings pitched with three runs and two strikeouts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Central Oklahoma edges Augie in pitcher's duel
EDMOND, OK (AUGUSTANA) — A single run in the first inning proved to be the difference between two of the top-ranked teams in the region and the country as Central Oklahoma slipped past Augustana 1-0 on Thursday evening. Ashton Dorman and Sidney Smart logged the lone two hits on the day for the Vikings as Andrea Cain and Desi Cuevas combined for a pair of walks. Dorman tallied 6 putouts and Norah Christiansen led with four assists. In the circle, Grace Glanzer took the loss to move to 26-7 despite her strong effort in the circle. She allowed one run with four strikeouts, seven fly outs and seven groundouts against 27 batters faced. Cain drew a walk off a full count to kick things off and soon advanced to second base off a sacrifice bunt. But she would go no further. The Bronchos found base after being hit by pitch and a stolen base put a runner on second. A single far out to left field would score that runner to put the home team ahead 1-0 and officially open up scoring. But neither team would score for the remainder of the game. Smart logged her base hit in the top of the third inning and was joined on base by Cuevas, but both would be stranded. In the bottom half of that inning, Central Oklahoma would load the bases off its first three batters…until Glanzer went to work. The Vikings pulled three outs off the next three at-bats to strand three Bronchos. UCO would proceed to leave three additional runners on base throughout the rest of the game as the Vikings struggled to move past second. The Bronchos and Vikings will return to action tomorrow afternoon with a 2 p.m. game two and an if necessary game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Gerry Pinkston Stadium. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Augustana softball geared up Super Regionals run
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Augustana softball team reached the NCAA Regionals and found success winning all three games. Now, the Vikings are off to the Super Regionals. The Vikings won the NSIC Tournament in early May, and that success continued into the NCAA Central Regional. The victories didn't come easy as the first two games saw a combined eight extra innings. 'Any sort of win that you can get down there is a huge win,' Augustana pitcher Grace Glanzer said. 'So we didn't care how it looked, what it looked like. I mean, it'd be great to have it a different way, a more quicker game than what we had. But, what matters is that we came out on top, and then we're here and we're moving on to the next part of our season.' Augustana didn't get to host in the regionals, but pitcher Grace Glanzer says the travel helped build the teams togetherness. 'Honestly, there is some fun in traveling postseason,' Glanzer said. 'You eat as a team, you travel as a team, you do everything as a team. There's some fun in that. A lot of memories that are made. So, we took it as it is and we embraced it. And that's, I think why we came out on top this weekend.' 'Don't give in,' Augustana head coach Gretta Melsted said. 'Keep competing, keep pushing, keep throwing punches, keep going after it. Because eventually something is going to fall, or if it doesn't fall, at least you gave everything you had.' The Vikings found unique ways to score runs in the regional, but as coach Melsted knows, any offense is key this time of the year. 'When you get to this time of year, you're going to face those pitchers that are going to shut down that offense or limit your opportunities. So you have to win in different ways, whether that is getting hit by a pitch, whether that is taking a walk, you have to be able to win in multiple different ways.' Augustana will meet Central Oklahoma Thursday, May 15th. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. central time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Vikings shutout Lions for bid to Super Regionals
MAGNOLIA, Ark. (AUGUSTANA) – As the three seed in the region and sixth team in the nation, Augustana softball completed the sweep of the NCAA Central Region tournament with a 4-0 defeat of Missouri Southern State on Saturday afternoon. The win qualifies the Vikings for its second straight Super Regional tournament appearance where they are set to face Central Oklahoma on May 15 and 16. It also improves their season record to 49-9 overall and pushes the team's win streak to 24 in a row. Augustana collected seven hits off the Lions as Lexi Lander and Stella Harber each tallied two apiece and Andrea Cain, Desi Cuevas and Ella Cooper combined for three. Cain and Harber totaled four RBI between them as Cain and Dierks each drew a walk and Cuevas and Cooper both logged a stolen base. Grace Glanzer took the win in the circle after seven innings pitched. She struck out seven of her just 24 batters faced while throwing 85 pitches on the day. As the visiting team on the scoreboard, Cuevas knocked an early base hit and stole her way to second base in the first inning, but the inning would stall there. Neither team would get past second base—or score—until the top of the fourth. An error and a wild pitch put Hailey Houston on second base just before Cooper knocked a single through the left side and stole second to put two runners in scoring position. That brought up Harber, who knocked a base hit through the right side to score both runners and officially open up scoring at 2-0. The Lions again fell in 1-2-3 fashion—as they did five times in seven innings—as Glanzer continued to light it up from the pitching mound. But the Vikings were also unable to score…until the top of the seventh. Liz Dierks drew a four-pitch walk, forcing a pitching change and bringing Cain up to bat. Facing a full count, the junior smoked a two-run homer out of the park to clear the bases and put the Vikings up by the eventual-final score of 4-0. MSSU was able to put runners on first and third in the bottom half of action, but a foul out to Cooper and a fly out to Cuevas would end things and advance the Vikings postseason to another weekend. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Augie heads to region championship in walk-off thriller
MAGNOLIA, Ark. (AUGUSTANA) – Augustana freshman Norah Christiansen knocked a go-ahead two-run homer to seal the Viking 4-2 victory against Southern Arkansas on Friday afternoon at the NCAA Central Region Tournament…and it only took 12 innings of action to do it. AU will await the result of game five in Central Region 2, facing the winner between No. 2 seed SAU and No. 6 seed Missouri Southern State at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in the championship game. Augustana tallied just six hits against the Muleriders compared to the opponent's 14, led by two from Liz Dierks while Desi Cuevas, Ella Cooper, Christiansen and Sidney Smart each added in one apiece. Christiansen tallied two RBI and scored two runs in the affair while combining with Cuevas for the two walks drawn and two homeruns. Additionally, Ashton Dorman and Cooper registered 11 and 10 putouts, respectively. In the circle, Grace Glanzer earned the win to improve to 25-6 this season. She allowed just two runs over her 12 innings of work and struck out 11 batters combined with 9 fly outs and 16 groundouts. Augustana was first to strike in the heavyweight battle, as Christiansen drew a walk in the bottom of the second inning to bring Smart up to bat. She singled to center field and soon advanced all the way to third off a fielding error that would bring the runner home for the opening 1-0 lead. The Muleriders quickly responded, knocking three hits for two runs in the top of the third to take the lead. As the Vikings fought to keep themselves in the game, Glanzer got hot in the circle. She faced a loaded-bases situation and successfully ended the top of the sixth inning with back-to-back lethal swinging strikeouts. It took until the bottom half of that inning for either team to score again. And it was done so in quite dominating fashion. Cuevas was the first batter up and she soon sent a skyrocketing missile of a shot over the left field fence…and further over the nearby out-of-park signage at Dawson Field. Her solo homerun would tie the game up for the Vikings at 2-2 with the seventh inning looming, but it would take much longer for the game to officially close. Glanzer again fended off loaded bases with a stifling performance and would continue to hold it down as the two teams locked into a back-and-forth pitching battle. The Muleriders would leave a combined seven runners on base through the five innings worth of extra softball action and neither team was able to circle through more than four batters an inning. Until the bottom of the 12th. Cooper bunted to third base and successfully made it to second off a throwing error. Another bunt advanced her to third and brought Christiansen up to bat. Facing one out, the freshman rocketed a shot to right center on the second pitch, walking off the 12-inning and nearly three-hour marathon with a two-run homer to seal the win. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
