The Augustana softball team opened up the NCAA central region tournament with some late-game excitement on Thursday, defeating Missouri Western 8-7 in walk-off fashion.

Tied at 7-7 in the bottom of the seventh, Senior Shannon Petersen hit a sac-fly to right field, scoring Ashley Mickschl for the game-winning run.

Augustana improves to 52-9 on the year and sees head coach Gretta Melsted collect her 600th career win. Melsted started her career at Culver-Stockton College (MO), where she won 81 games over three seasons.

The Vikings survive and advance in the double-elimination tournament, moving on to take on second-seed Winona State on Friday at 1 p.m.