Game #1 Box Score
Game #2 Box Score
The Carthage College softball team (22-9, 10-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 17th in the April 28 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll and first in the April 28 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional poll, split a Thursday, April 29 doubleheader with CCIW-opponent Millikin University (22-16, 5-9 CCIW). Carthage lost the first game, 5-3, but won the nightcap by a 12-4 margin in five innings at Eisenhower High School in Decatur, Ill.
The win in the second game clinched at least a share of the CCIW title for the Lady Reds. The Lady Reds won the title, outright, on Saturday, May 1 when second-place North Central College lost the first game of a doubleheader at Augustana College (Ill.), 6-5, in eight innings. Carthage won its only other conference championship in 1998, in coach Amy Gillmore's first season. Carthage will play host to the Friday-Saturday, May 7-8 CCIW Softball Tournament at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.
The Millikin set, originally scheduled to be played at Rotary Park in Decatur, was moved to Eisenhower High School due to high winds on a day with temperatures in the upper 70s and south winds at 30 miles per hour. The loss in the first game snapped a six-game Carthage winning streak. In the opening game, Millikin took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Cora Jeffers walked, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Carthage catcher Jenny Burke, and scored on an error by third baseman Stephanie Hueramo. The Big Blue added a run in the third to go up, 2-0. Ali Moss walked, advanced all the way to third on a throwing error by Carthage pitcher Kelsey Epping and scored on a wild pitch. A double by Missy Herold in the first inning was the only hit Epping allowed through the first five and two-thirds innings. In the sixth, Oliva Birkey walked, and with two outs, Tess Strang doubled her home for a 3-0 Millikin lead.
Carthage scored three times with two outs in the top of the seventh to tie the game, 3-3. Katie Paulmeyer and Heather Johnson singled. Stephanie Noel doubled in both runners, and Alyssa Schrader followed with an RBI-single to score Noel with the tying run. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Big Blue pitcher Whitney Schafman singled. Colleen Bryan followed with a two-run walk-off homer, her fifth home run of the year, to give Millikin a 5-3 win. Kelsey Epping (13-3) allowed five runs, three earned, on four hits and three walks, while striking out six batters. Epping was victimized by five infield errors. Whitney Schafman (15-5) was the winning pitcher Alyssa Schrader went three-for-three for Carthage , while Heather Johnson and Stephanie Noel each had two hits.
Carthage took a 4-0 lead in the second inning of the nightcap. After the Lady Reds loaded the bases with one out, Stephanie Schafer hit an RBI-single. Meghan Roman followed with a two-run double and Heather Johnson an fielder's choice-RBI. Millikin cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the third. The Big Blue loaded the bases with no outs, and Whitney Schafman hit a fielder's choice-RBI. Colleen Bryan followed with a two-run single. The Lady Reds went up, 5-3, in the bottom of the third. Jenny Burke walked, went to second on a single by Kari Peterson and moved up to third on a ground ball. Stephanie Schafer followed with an RBI-single.
In the Carthage fourth, after Heather Johnson and Stephanie Noel singled, Alyssa Schrader's RBI-single scored Johnson. Jenny Burke reached on a fielder's choice, with Noel moving to third. Jacquelyn Tassone walked to load the bases, and Millikin pitcher Jan Ellis walked Kari Peterson to force in a run. Katie Paulmeyer hit a fielder's choice-RBI to score Burke for an 8-3 lead. Colleen Bryan singled in a run in the Millikin fifth to make it 8-4. A two-run double by Stephanie Noel in the fifth upped the Lady Reds' lead to 10-4. Jenny Burke then singled, and Jacquelyn Tassone walked to load the bases. Kari Peterson singled in Noel to make it 11-4, with pinch-runner Ariel Yeager getting cut down at the plate. Tassone scored on a wild pitch, and Carthage won, 12-4, on an eight-run rule.
Pitcher Krystina Leazer (9-2) was the winner. Leazer allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits and no walks. Lauren Kitterman (3-7) took the loss. Kari Peterson went three-for-three with two RBI, as the Lady Reds collected 15 hits off three Millikin pitchers. Stephanie Schafer went two-for-three with two RBI, while Megan Roman and Stephanie Noel each went two-for-four with two RBI. Carthage plays host to non-conference opponent the University of Chicago on Sunday, May 2 in a Noon doubleheader at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis. The Maroons were ranked sixth in the April 28 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional poll.
