Box Score
The Carthage College softball team (25-15) was eliminated from the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, May 15 with a 3-2 loss to No. 16 Wisconsin-La Crosse (38-8) at Wisconsin-Whitewater's Van Steenderen Diamond in Whitewater, Wis.
Carthage opened regional-play on Thursday, May 13 with a 4-0 win over Alma College (30-10). In other first-round action, top-seeded and No. 4 Luther College (38-5) defeated eighth-seeded St. Norbert College (30-7), 5-1; sixth-seeded and CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill., 31-13) upset third-seeded and No. 30 the University of Redlands (34-13), 4-3; and No. 16 Wisconsin-La Crosse (36-8) lost to Aurora University (36-7), 4-3.
On Friday, May 14, St. Norbert College (31-7) eliminated Alma College (30-11), 4-2; Wisconsin-La Crosse (37-8) eliminated the University of Redlands (32-14), 4-1; Carthage (25-14) lost to No. 4 Luther College (39-5), 2-1; and Aurora (37-7) defeated Augustana (Ill., 31-14) by a 9-5 margin in a game that was suspended on Thursday night, on account of darkness.
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In the Lady Reds' loss to Wisconsin-La Crosse, Carthage broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Alyssa Schrader. Carthage pitcher Krystina Leazer was cruising along with a four-hitter until the bottom of the fifth. One missed defensive play turned that inning into disaster for the Lady Reds. With two outs and Lauren Schaller on first base, Rachel Croak hit a roller back to the mound. Leazer fumbled the ball, picked it and threw it over first baseman Jacquelyn Tassone's head. Instead of the inning being over, Schaller wound up at third. The next batter, Rachel Weyer, drilled a double down the leftfield line to score both runners, and the game was tied, 2-2. Jenna Ahnen followed with a single, sending Weyer to third. With Cara Salm at bat, Ahnen broke for second on a stolen-base attempt. Carthage catcher Jenny Burke threw the into centerfield, allowing Weyer to score the go-ahead run. Neither team scored in the sixth inning, and the Lady Reds went down in order in the seventh.
Heather Schultz (24-3) was the winning pitcher, Schultz allowed two runs on five hits and no walks over five innings, while striking out six batters. Ashley Veroeven worked the final two innings for her third save. Krystina Leazer (11-3) took the loss. Leazer gave up three runs, all unearned, on eight hits and no walks over six innings, while striking out six. Alyssa Schrader went two-for-three with two RBI, while the Eagles[ Rachel Weyer went two-for-two with two RBI.
“We were so close to really doing something great in the regional,” said Carthage coach
Amy Gillmore. “We were one pitch away from beating Luther on the second day and one play away from winning the Wisconsin-La Crosse game on the third day. If Krystina Leazer makes the play at first base in the fifth inning against Wisconsin-La Crosse, we'd still be ahead,2-0. It's too bad, because Krystina pitched a great game. Alyssa Schrader had an unbelievable series. She carried us, and our pitching carried us. Our defense was great all three days, except for one bad inning. It hurts, because we were so close to being 3-0. We could have used a break or two or a little luck, but we just didn't get it. We had a terrific year, though, and I would take this group of players anytime.”
