SIOUX FALLS – In their final home doubleheader of the regular season, University of Sioux Falls Softball will host city rival No. 16 Augustana on Wednesday, April 25, at Sherman Park, beginning at 4 p.m. The Cougars (25-16, 10-8 NSIC) are looking to snap a five-game losing streak while the Vikings (33-9, 15-3 NSIC) have won five straight and are currently second in the NSIC standings.
 
On Deck
Sioux Falls closes the regular season with a road trip to northern Minnesota. The Cougars will take on Minnesota Crookston on Saturday, April 28 at 1 and 3 p.m. then travel to face Bemidji State in the regular season finale on Sunday, April 29 at 12 and 2 p.m.
 
Follow the Cougars
Never miss an update for USF Softball by following the Cougars on social media. Check out the twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts for all 17 USF Athletics accounts at usfcougars.com/socialmedia. Live stats for all USF Softball home games are available at usfcougars.com/livestats and links to live stats for all NSIC games are on the USF Softball schedule.  Weather permitting, all USF Softball home games will be streamed for free through Stretch Internet at usfcougars.com/watch and links to away games are on the USF Softball schedule.
 
Playoff Picture
With six games remaining for the Cougars and the rest of the NSIC, USF is currently in sixth place in the league standings. With the NSIC Tournament admitting the top 10 teams in the league, USF is currently in the field, if the standings hold, which would make five consecutive trips to the conference tournament. The Cougars do have a four-game cushion on 11th-place teams University of Mary (6-12) and Southwest Minnesota State (6-12), but their seeding could still range from No. 1 seed to No. 10 with no seeds clinched yet.
 
Series History
A perennial power in the conference, regional and national scopes, Augustana has handled Sioux Falls with ease since the Cougars joined the NSIC and USF is 1-7 against the Vikings. In the first meeting, USF split the doubleheader with Augustana, dropping a one-run decision before pouncing on the Vikings for a 9-0 victory. However, since that win, Sioux Falls has suffered six consecutive losses, including three by eight runs or more. Last season, Sydney Nieveen hit a homerun in the Cougars' 12-4 game-one loss. In game two, USF stranded seven runners on base, despite Kerrigan Hoshaw and Francesca Mickelson's two-hit efforts, and fell 7-1.  The Cougars have hosted AU four times since joining the NSIC and they are 1-3 against the Vikings in those games.
 
Meyer reaches double digits with three-homerun week
Despite the weather shortened season, sophomore slugger Ashley Meyer hasn't been slowed at the plate. Meyer leads Sioux Falls with 10 homeruns, becoming the sixth different Cougar to hit double-digit homers in a season since joining NCAA Division II in 2012-13. Reaching 10 dingers for the season, Meyer hit a solo shot against Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday, a two-run blast against Minnesota Duluth on Sunday, then capped it with a second two-run homer against St. Cloud State, on Monday. The Lincoln, Neb. native's 10 homeruns ranks second in the NSIC and 65th in NCAA Division II this year, while her average of 0.24 homeruns per game is fourth in the league, 66th nationally. Junior Kerrigan Hoshaw's 0.13 homeruns per game is 13th in the league and she has seven for the season and 22 in her career, which ranks third in USF's DII era.