SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Southwest Minnesota State softball team will look to disrupt Augustana’s momentum today when they head west for a doubleheader against the red-hot Vikings.

Heading into today’s games, Augustana sits in second place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference at 7-1, just a game back of undefeated Concordia-St. Paul. The Vikings have also won nine of their last 10 games — the exception being a 5-4 loss in a doubleheader split against Minnesota State Moorhead — to bring their overall record to 26-6 on the year.

SMSU, meanwhile, sits tied with Minnesota Duluth in ninth place at 4-4. The Mustangs have alternated between sweeping and getting swept in each of their last four doubleheaders to put them at 13-18 overall on the season.

Last weekend the Mustangs were shut out in a two-game sweep against Minot State but bounced back with a pair of wins against UMary. Morgyn Otte picked up a win in a seven-inning, one-run outing against UMary while Miller put together a solid six-inning, six-strikeout performance in a loss against a quality Minot team.

Miller has been the Mustangs’ ace thus far. Her 71 strikeouts rank 8th in the NSIC and her 3.04 ERA ranks 18th.

Augustana, however, is loaded with pitching depth. Grace Glanzer leads the conference with a 0.79 ERA while Lexi Lander and Hailey Houston rank 16th and 19th at 2.84 and 3.07 respectively.

Glanzer’s 100 strikeouts on the year are also second in the conference only to Minnesota Duluth’s Lauren Dixon, who has 151.

On the offensive side of the plate, Jillian Noel, Brynn Webber and Abby Russell led the Mustangs with three hits apiece last week. Russell accounted for two of the Mustangs’ four extra-base hits over the weekend, hitting a double and a triple in a 7-5 win over UMary.

Noel and Russell have been the Mustangs’ top hitters all year long, their .887 and .824 OPS making them the only Mustangs over the .620 mark.

Webber, a freshman, has been a menace on the basepaths. Her 13 stolen bases tie her for second in the conference with Minnesota State’s Kylie Sullivan and Marina Carter. Sullivan and Carter reached the mark and 17 and 15 attempts respectively while Webber did it in just 14.

While not yet having enough at-bats to officially qualify, freshman Emma Humpal has also been a key contributor as of late with her .705 OPS ranking third on the team.

Augustana has been led offensively by the duo of Desi Cuevas and Ashton Dorman. Dorman hit a home run and a pair of doubles in Augustana’s last doubleheader, a sweep of St. Cloud State. The performance brought her OPS up to 1.031, putting her 10th in the NSIC just behind Cuevas at 1.038. Dorman’s .396 batting average also ranks seventh in the league. Torri Chute also ranks fourth in the NSIC with six home runs for the Vikings.

In the last 10 meetings between SMSU and Augustana, the Vikings have won nine times. Yet, the Mustangs were able to eke out a split last year with a 2-1 victory in Sioux Falls. Russell and Molly Bull each hit a double in the game while Bull and Paige Ahrendt finished with an RBI each. Houston picked up the loss for Augustana.

Today’s games will be streamed on the NSIC Network with live stats available on SMSUmustangs.com