SIOUX FALLS – Ending their conference tournament run and 2018 season, University of Sioux Falls Softball dropped a 3-1 decision to rival No. 14 Augustana in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament on Friday morning. The Cougars finish the 2018 season with a 31-19 record, finishing with 30 or more wins for the fifth consecutive season.
 
Sioux Falls was held to four hits while the Vikings (38-12) recorded nine. The USF pitching duo of Kerrigan Hoshaw and Courtney Mathews kept their team in the game, stranding nine Augustana baserunners on the day.
 
Emily Hove hit her 12th double of the season while Lindsey Mossman, Sydney Nieveen and Ashley Meyer all notched singles for the Cougars.
 
Leading Sioux Falls to their only run of the day, Mossman led off with a single and was replaced on first by Nieveen after a fielder's choice groundout. Meyer followed with her single, pushing Nieveen to third. Plating the run, Hoshaw drove in Nieveen with a sacrifice fly to left field.
 
Augustana responded with two hits and took advantage of a USF error to tie the game at 1-1 with an unearned run. Hoshaw avoided any extra damage by leaving the bases loaded with a strikeout and flyout to end the first inning.
 
After a 1-2-3 inning in the top half, Augustana took a 2-1 lead with a pair of hits in the bottom of the second inning. The teams traded scoreless third and fourth innings before USF threatened in the top of the fifth.
 
Hove led off with her double, but she was erased from the basepaths when Francesca Mickelson's line drive was corralled by the diving Augustana second baseman, who doubled off Hove at second base.
 
After a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt gave the Vikings two runners in scoring position with one out, Mathews replaced Hoshaw in the circle. A popup earned Mathews the second out of the inning then she struck out the final batter to keep the Cougars within one run through five innings.
 
With two outs, the Cougars mounted a brief threat at the Augustana lead. Nieveen singled and Meyer followed with a walk, but Hoshaw's deep fly ball was caught to end USF's sixth-inning at-bat. Augustana added an insurance run with a bit of drama. With runners on first and second, AU's Kendall Cornick was ruled out of the box on a base-clearing double, giving the Cougars their second out of the inning. With a single to left field, Augustana's runner on second narrowly beat the tag off Megan Peterson's throw to the plate, giving the Vikings a 3-1 lead.
 
Senior Jasmine Ragusi led off the seventh inning with a deep fly ball to left centerfield, but it was caught by the AU centerfielder and the next two batters failed to extend the inning, ending the game at 3-1 in favor of Augustana.