The University of Minnesota Duluth mashed four home runs Saturday afternoon but left Sioux Falls, S.D., empty handed in the win column as No. 14 Augustana grabbed both games of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference double header at Bowden Field. The Vikings (24-5) nabbed a 8-5 victory in game one before securing the conference sweep with a 6-1 win in game two. The Bulldogs (11-12) scored all six of their runs via the long ball in today's double header.

Senior catcher Hannah Bloch, sophomore infielder Taylor Koehnen, junior outfielder Jayme Langbehn and junior infielder Lauren Oberle all went yard for UMD. Bloch, Koehnen and Oberle homered in game one and Langbehn notched the lone run for the Bulldogs in the rematch on her solo shot. Koehnen grooved a pitch from Viking pitcher Ashley Mickschl over the fence for her first collegiate home run. Koehnen's solo bomb gave UMD the first run of the contest. Bloch launched her third homer of her career -- first of the season -- in the fourth inning to give UMD a 3-2 lead. Oberle tabbed her third homer of the year in the fifth inning that knotted the score 5-5.

Augustana showed why it was one of the top teams in the nation this season as the Bulldogs' long bombs proved to be not enough. The Vikings responded in the bottom of the inning every time UMD sent a pitch on a ride over the wall. The Vikings scored twice after Koehnen's homer and three more times after Bloch's two-RBI round-tripper. Just after Oberle tied things up on a first-pitch no-doubter, Shannon Petersen homered herself for Augustana, who took the lead right back and added two more for good measure in the sixth. 

Mickschl was able to outlast freshman pitcher Sam Pederson for the victory. Mickschl threw a complete game for the Vikings giving up six hits -- three home runs -- and four walks while fanning eight. Pederson lasted 5 1/3 innings, striking out three and allowing eight hits and three walks.

The rematch provided a pitching duel for the first four innings until the Vikings cracked the pitching from junior Breanna Swint. Augustana scored in the second to take a 1-0 lead but Swint locked down the Vikings until Maggie Dunnett and Samantha Eisenreich went back-to-back for the Vikings in part of a four-run fifth inning the Bulldogs wished they could have back. Langbehn parked her fifth collegiate home run to snap the shutout. Amber Elliot collect the win going the distance while stifling the Bulldog bats with 13 strikeouts and just surrendering three hits.

The Bulldogs are back tomorrow in Wayne, Neb., to partake in another NSIC double header, this time with Wayne State College. First pitch of that double dip has been pushed back one hour to 1:00 p.m. for warmer weather.