Game #1 box score
Game #2 box score

Augustana College's Krista Watson and Jenna Nelson combined to give the Prairie Fire fits Tuesday night in Rock Island as the Vikings swept both games of a doubleheader.

Watson, just a first-year player, was the hero for Augie (19-19) in the first game while Nelson, a sophomore, had a huge game at the plate in the nightcap to lead the Vikings to 6-5 and 10-2 victories in the last two games of the 2011 season for the Prairie Fire.

Knox came back from a 4-1 deficit by scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead in the opening contest.

Held scoreless over the first five innings by Sarah Hintz (8-7), the Fire got on the scoreboard when sophomore Jill Krippel (Plainfield, IL, Plainfield Central) walked with two outs.  Krippel advanced to second base on a wild pitch then scored when Augie's shortstop misplayed a ground ball off the bat of sophomore Brittany Wisniewski (Park Ridge, Illinois, Maine South) to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Knox plated four runs on four hits in the seventh frame.  First-year pitcher/infielder Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) led off the inning with her fifth home run of the season to trim the Viking lead in half, 4-2.  First-year infielder Jordan Shaffer (Atlanta, IL, Olympia) followed with a single before she was thrown out at second base on a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning.

Senior Kim Krogull (Lena, Illinois, Lena-Winslow) grounded out for the second out of the inning.  The Prairie Fire stayed alive when junior Amanda Wollrab (Knoxville, IL, Knoxville) walked and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch that advanced first-year pitcher/infielder Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Country Day) to third.  Junior Kaylah Murphy (Canton, Illinois, Canton/Lincoln College) smacked a two-run double to tie the game at 4-4.  Kripple followed with an RBI single that gave Knox its first lead at 5-4.  Wisniewski flied out to end the inning.

Augustana, which scored three times in the second inning and added a run in the fifth on Watson's eighth homer of the season, spoiled the Fire's comeback bid in the bottom of the seventh.

The first hitter reached on an infield error, setting up Watson's heroics.  She drilled a two-run homer, her second of the game and ninth of the season, to give the Vikings a dramatic 6-5 win in game one.

Watson was 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in and three runs scored.  Augustana outhit Knox 8-6.  Shaffer led the Prairie Fire with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate. 

Eisha (5-12) took the loss in the circle.  She threw 6 1/3 innings and allowed six runs -- three earned -- on eight hits with one strikeout and two walks.

 Augustana dominated the second game after the Fire scored a run in the the first inning.

Sheldon Ritzheimer issued a base on balls to Murphy to lead off the game.  Kripple's sacrifice moved Murphy to second and she advanced to third base on a wild pitch with just one out.  Murphy scored when Shaffer reached base on an error by the left fielder for a 1-0 Prairie Fire lead.

The Vikings answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning off Lemen (1-9) when Nelson hit her third home run of the season with two runners on base to give Augie a 3-1 lead. 

Augustana put the game out of reach with five runs in the third inning, which included an RBI single by Nelson, for an 8-1 advantage.

The Prairie Fire scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth when Shaffer doubled and scored on an infield error to make it an 8-2 game.

Nelson again came through for the Vikings with another run-scoring single in a two-run fourth inning for a 10-2 lead.

The Prairie Fire went down in order in the top of the fifth.

Augustana outhit Knox 11-2 in the game.  Nelson led the Vikings with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate, a home run and five RBIs to go along with two runs scored.

Watson had another big game of her own, 3-for-3 at the dish with an RBI and three runs scored.

Nelson and Watson combined to go 10-for-13 with three home runs, nine RBIs and nine runs scored in the twinbill.

Lemen worked three innings in game two for the Prairie Fire and allowed eight runs -- four of them earned -- on eight hits.  Eisha pitched one inning of relief and surrendered two runs on three hits with one strikeout.

Shaffer hit the ball well in the doubleheader, going 4-for-5 at the plate with a run scored.

The Prairie Fire concluded the season with a 7-22 record.  One senior,  Krogull, concluded her softball career at Knox College.  Her efforts and dedication to the program are very much appreciated.