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Rested and ready, Augustana looks to defend its title
Before the 2020 season was canceled, Augustana was 16-3 and ranked fourth in the nation. (Photo Credit: Augustana Athletics)

Rested and ready, Augustana looks to defend its title

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (BVM) — For the second year in a row, the Augustana Vikings entered the season as the reigning national champions in NCAA DII Softball.

However, that national championship was almost two years ago during the 2019 seaso

n as the 2020 season was cut short due to the pandemic. Even so, the Vikings are entering the season ready to defend their title.

“We still are the reigning national champions and there is going to be even more of a target on our back,” Augustana head coach Gretta Melsted said.

Last year, the Vikings were 16-3 and ranked fourth in the nation when the season was first suspended and then later canceled.  

“I felt really good and I know our team was feeling really good with how we were playing,” Melsted said. “We felt like we had another good team and a team that could make a run in the NCAA tournament.”

The Vikings would never get the opportunity to make a run, so as the hopes of finishing the 2020 season disappeared, they began to look towards the 2021 season. And there was a lot to be excited about.

“There is that sadness that you didn’t get to play but you know that what you have coming back and the team you are going to put together is going to be another really strong team,” Melsted said. 

One of the players that would help to strengthen the Vikings was Abby Lein who announced she would be transferring to Augustana from the University of Iowa on April 24. The now junior played her first two seasons with the Hawkeyes before deciding to join the Vikings and the team her sister had played on almost a decade earlier.

The Vikings enter the 2021 season ranked third in the nation. Photo credit: Augustana Athletics)

A few months later, right as fall classes were about to start the Vikings would once again strengthen their roster as outfielder Kendall Cornick, who had the game-winning hit in the national championship, decided she would come back to the team for her last year of eligibility, taking a gap year from entering medical school to play one more season.

Along with Cornick and Lein, Augustana is returning most of the team from last year. That includes the team’s top pitchers in Ashley Mickschl and Amber Elliott, who went 16-2 last season.

Mickschl is a multi-year All-American who was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Elliot is a strong pitcher that has been battling the aftermath of her tearing her ACL as a freshman. Now as a senior, Melsted says she is the healthiest she’s been since the injury.

Elliot isn’t the only one on the team to come back healthy. All the Vikings benefited from the added time away and the approach Melsted, along with her coaching staff, took to the strange offseason.

“We wanted them to take a mental break from softball and a physical break from softball,” Melsted said.

After winning the national championship in 2019, Augustana had little time to recover before the began preparation for the 2020 season. The added time the team had due to the pandemic allowed everyone on the team to decompress for a little bit.

“You could tell that they got that break and you could tell that some maybe nagging little injuries that they had or things that would flair up had calmed down,” Melsted said. 

The team came together in the fall to begin preseason work and fall ball. Even though they were a little rusty, everyone was well rested and excited to be back together.

“It was like coming home,” Melsted said. 

Once back together, the Vikings immediately began to work on preparing for the 2021 season. There was a lot of work to be done and some rust to get rid of, but this is a team that can handle those sorts of hurdles.

“I have a special group for sure,” Melsted said. “It’s their character that I think takes them to another level.”

It’s a group of athletes that takes pride in living up to the standard that has been set by the teams before them. Augustana softball has a long tradition of success. Since 1978, the Vikings have only had two losing seasons. 

Their character and willingness to take on the responsibilities that come with playing for the Vikings are some of the main reasons Melsted is confident her team can handle this season. 

Besides the added restrictions and regulations to combat the pandemic, the Vikings schedule is also different. Like any other year, they will open their season down in Texas in the UT Tyler Irwin Invitational, but then they will basically have a month off before they compete in a tournament in Missouri. Once that tournament is over, they immediately begin conference play.

“We don’t get the luxury of having a ton of games before going into conference,” Melsted said.

Two of the games in Texas will also be against fourthranked UT Tyler and ninthranked Texas A&M-Commerce. They’re going to have to hit the ground running, but it will be helpful in allowing the Vikings to figure out what their identity will be this season.

According to Melsted, historically speaking, Augustana is known for two things: pitching and power hitting. They are once again set up for that with pitchers like Elliot and Mickschl. They also have one of the best power hitters in DII in Mary Pardo, but their defense will be strong as well. 

“I feel like we’re pretty balanced,” Melsted said.

Above all else, the Vikings are just excited to be back out on the field. It has been almost a year since they played together in a real game. For a team that is a family, it has been a hard thing to wait for. But for Augustana, the wait is over.