Rock Island, Ill. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse softball team earned a doubleheader sweep at Augustana College (Ill.) Thursday afternoon at Carver Field. The Eagles won the opener, 5-2, and the nightcap, 10-2, to improve to 13-9 on the season and extending their winning streak to eight games overall. The Vikings drop to 14-6 on the year.

UWL's eight-game winning streak is tied for the seventh-longest in single-season school history. The Eagles won a school record 21 straight games in 2010. 

In the opener, UWL took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Grace Mindrup singled and advanced to second on an Augustana (Ill.) error. Sabrina Scardamaglia followed with a single to advance Mindrup to third. Haley Radewan's sacrifice fly scored Mindrup with the game's first run. The Vikings came back in the bottom of the second to tie the score with Shelby Grant coming in on Marissa Catalano's sacrifice bunt. 

UWL took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third after Mia Schmidtke doubled with one out and Mindrup followed with a two-run home run. Molly Wrenn's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth for Augustana (Ill.) cut the lead to 3-2, but UWL added to its lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. Pinch-runner Maddie Yont scored on Sarah Stewart's single to make it 4-2 and Scardamaglia come in on Kathry Vander Schaaf's RBI groundout. 

Caitlyn Hughes (5-5) earned the win for UWL, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing two hits, one run and one walk while striking out four. Katie Klein picked up her second save of the season and 31st in her career, going 3.0 innings, allowing three hits and one run with three strikeouts. 

The Eagles had nine hits in the opener with Mindrup finishing 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI while Scardamaglia went 2-for-2 with two walks and one run. 

Cecelia Peine (3-3) suffered the loss for Augustana (Ill.), pitching 2.1 innings, allowing five hits, three runs and two walks while striking out two. Five different players recorded a hit for the Vikings.

Augustana (Ill.) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third in the nightcap on Kelsey Heiland's solo home run and Amanda Ray scoring an unearned run on Dina Falk's RBI double. UWL cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning. Mindrup and Scardamaglia started the inning with singles. Allison Oster pinch-ran for Mindrup and scored on Radewan's double. 

The Eagles tallied four runs in the fifth. Brittany Baldwin walked to lead-off the inning followed by a Sydney Murphy single. Both runners then scored on Schmidtke's three-run home run to give UWL a 4-2 advantage. Scardamaglia later scored in the inning on a Stewart single for a 5-2 lead. UWL added three runs in the sixth. Baldwin was hit-by-pitch to start the inning followed by a Murphy single. Baldwin scored on an Augustana (Ill.) error to give the Eagles a 6-2 lead. Scardamaglia's sacrifice fly scored pinch-runner Yont to make it 7-2 and Morgann Harbort's pinch-hit RBI single knocked in Schmidtke for a 8-2 lead. 

Schmidtke added a two-run home run in the top of the seventh scoring Kerrigan Koch to finish the scoring and the 10-2 victory.

UWL totaled 14 hits in the nightcap with Stewart finishing 3-for-4. Schmidtke, Murphy and Radewan each had two hits for the Eagles. Schmidtke finished with two home runs and five RBI. She tied the single-game school record with two home runs and became the first player to accomplish the feat since Emilie Wiltzius versus the University of Dubuque (Iowa) on March 6, 2015. Schmidtke's five RBI is tied for sixth in single-game school history. Beth Gordon and Rochell Vandenlangenberg hold the single-game school record with seven RBI.

Sydne Shattuck (1-2) earned the win, pitching 3.0 innings in relief, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out two. 

Augustana (Ill.) totaled eight hits with Falk finishing 3-for-4. Hope Moos (3-1) suffered the loss for the Vikings, pitching 0.1 of an inning, allowing three hits, three runs and one walk.

UWL returns to action Saturday, April 7 hosting UW-Eau Claire at 1 p.m. at North Campus Field in its home opener. The teams will play a doubleheader in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) opener for both teams.