MINNEAPOLIS -- Pounding out 29 hits in the doubleheader, including home runs by Olivia Funk (JR, Lewiston, Minn./Lewiston-Altura HS) and Lola Pilon (FY, St. Paul, Minn./Mounds Park Academy HS), the Augsburg University softball team closed the nonconference portion of its schedule with a sweep of North Central University on Thursday afternoon at Edor Nelson Field.

THE BASICS
SCORES: Augsburg 8, North Central 0 (6 inn.); Augsburg 17, North Central 1 (5 inn.)
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORD: Augsburg 15-3 overall, North Central 1-16 overall

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
• Augsburg scored seven runs in the first three innings, then added a run in the sixth to end the game via the NCAA eight-run rule.
• Funk hit her second home run of the season, a two-run shot to right field, in the first inning. Two more runs came across in the second, as Jayden Evenson (SO, Mosinee, Wis./Mosinee HS) hit an RBI fielder's choice, and Torrie Rehder (JR, Goodhue, Minn./Goodhue HS) plated Evenson on an RBI single to left.
• The Auggies put three runs across in the third inning, as Pilon led off the frame with the first of her two doubles in the game and scored on an RBI single by Olivia Hennager (SO, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS), Grace Syson (SR, Oshkosh, Wis./Lourdes Academy HS) singled to bring home an run, and another run came across on a fielding error.
• With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, Hennager hit an RBI single to bring home the game-ending run.
• Pilon, Hennager and Syson had two hits each for the Auggies in the opener.
• Olivia O'Connor (SR, White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) struck out four against one walk and two hits in four innings of pitching to earn the win, with Libby Moore (SR, Springville, Iowa/Springville HS) striking out two against a hit in two innings of relief.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
• Augsburg pounded out a season-high 17 hits, including a home run and five doubles, to end the game in the fifth inning.
• Augsburg sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs on five hits in the bottom of the first -- an RBI single by Funk, an RBI double by Zoie Johnson (JR, Carlton, Minn./Esko HS), a two-run double by Hennager, and an RBI single by Jaime Olson (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS).
• Eleven batters came to the plate in the second inning, with five runs scoring on six hits and an error. Pilon hit a two-run single, Funk and Hennager each hit RBI doubles, and Evenson drove in a run on a fielder's choice.
• Pilon hit a two-run homer to right field, her second round-tripper of the year, in the third inning, and Olson brought home a run on a fielder's choice.
• The Auggies scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded, Olson drove in a run on a single, Moore drove in a run on a groundout, Evenson hit a run-scoring single, and another run scored on a fielding error.
• Pilon went 3-for-3 in the second game with four RBI, while Olson went 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Hennager went 2-for-2 with three RBI. Funk and Katie Manecke (SR, Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) also had two hits each. Pilon scored three runs, while Manecke, Funk, Dynneson and Teron Ormond-Miller (FY, Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount HS) scored two runs each.
• Morgann Paaske (JR, Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central HS) struck out three against two walks and a hit in three innings of pitching, with Moore striking out one in two innings of relief.

FOR THE FOES
• Kelsey Henninger had two hits in the first game for North Central, while Delaney Riddle hit a double.
• Maci Tripp drove in Ramiyah Words on a single in the fourth inning for North Central's lone run of the second game.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg opens Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, April 3 at 3:30 p.m., with a doubleheader against Macalester College at Edor Nelson Field.