Augustana softball earns No. 3 seed in Division II NCAA tournament
Fresh off capturing the NSIC regular season and conference tournament championships, the 11th-ranked Augustana softball team will head to Edmond, Oklahoma, for the NCAA Division II softball tournament this week.
The Vikings earned the No. 3 seed in the Central Regional and will take on sixth-seeded Arkansas Tech on Thursday.
The Vikings, who won the national championship in 2019 and returned to the D-II World Series last year, are 47-8 on the season. After seeing a 22-game winning streak snapped in their regular-season finale, Augustana swept through the conference tournament 4-0 and have now won 28 of their last 29 games.
Augustana softball: Vikings win NSIC softball and baseball conference titles
Rogers State is hosting the Central Region in pod No. 1. The Vikings are in pod two with 2-seed Central Oklahoma, seventh-seeded Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech. The winner of each pod will play in a Super Regional the following weekend.
Arkansas Tech is 39-17 this season, winners of the GAC tournament title. They have two big bats in Tymber Riley (.443, 16 home runs) and Caitlyn Wells (.402, 11 homers), and a handful of strong pitchers, led by ace Shannon Lasey (18-7, 1.28 ERA).
Augustana softball: Vikings ready to move into new stadium, play for NSIC championship
The Vikings are hitting .369 as a team, led by Gracey Brink (.444, 9 homers), Torri Chute (.416, 12 homers), Delaney Young (.411, 13 homers) and slugging lead-off hitter Mary Pardo (.385, 26 home runs). Ashley Mickschl (21-2, 1.24) and Amber Elliott (18-3, 1.73) have both excelled in the circle. Mickschl was named tournament MVP when the Vikings won it all in 2019.
The Vikings are appearing in the NCAA playoffs for the fourth straight postseason and 11th time since 2010.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Augustana University softball earns No. 3 seed in D-II NCAA tournament
