Augustana (Ill.) 11, Carthage 2
Carthage 7, Augustana (Ill.) 4
The Carthage College softball team (14-12, 5-3 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) split a doubleheader with CCIW-opponent Augustana College (Ill., 16-14, 4-4 CCIW) on Wednesday, April 13 at Carver Field in Rock Island, Ill. The Vikings pounded the Lady Reds, 11-2, in the opening game, but Carthage used a six-run fourth inning to win the nightcap by a 7-4 margin. The split left the Lady Reds in fourth place in the CCIW, just ahead of fifth-place Augustana, the pre-season favorite.
Augustana took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the opener on an unearned run. Carthage's Katie Paulmeyer (So., Alsip, Ill./Chicago-Marist) hit a two-run home run in the second, giving the Lady Reds a 2-1 lead. The Vikings went up, 3-2, in the third, as Stephanie Sarb singled home a run and Melissa Nelson scored on the front end of an attempted double steal. Augustana scored four times in the fifth to up its lead to 7-2. Sarb doubled in two runs and scored herself, unearned, and Kelsey Winter singled in a run. The Vikings scored four times in the sixth, Jenna Nelson hit a two-run single and Krista Watson followed with a two-run home run to end the game on an eight-run rule.
Sarah Hintz (7-5) was the winning pitcher. She allowed two runs on six hits and no walks, while striking out four batters. Krystina Leazer (So., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 11-5) took the loss. Leazer surrendered the first seven runs, five earned, on 10 hits and a walk. The Vikings pounded out 16 hits against Leazer and relief pitcher Tricia O'Keefe. Christina Trojanowski went four-for-four. Melissa Nelson had three hits in four trips, and Stephanie Sarb went two-for-four with three RBI.
In the nightcap, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI-single by Kari Peterson. Augustana tied the game, 1-1, on an RBI-single by Kelsey Winter. The Lady Reds exploded for six runs in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead. Alyssa Schrader scored on a wild pitch. Sarah McGinn hit a two-run single, and Peterson followed with an RBI-single. Vicki Pyan hit a sacrifice fly, and Schrader completed the inning with an RBI-single. The Vikings came right back to score two in the top of the fifth inning on solo home runs by Krista Watson and Stephanie Sarb. Watson connected on another homer, her second of the game and her third on the day, in the seventh to close out the scoring at 7-4.
Alyssa Schrader (Jr., Plainfield, Ill./South, 2-3) was the winning pitcher in relief of Alyssa Sirocchi (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis.). Sirocchi worked the first four and one-third innings and allowed two runs on eight hits. Schrader surrendered two runs on three hits over the final two and two-thirds innings. Ashley Yaros (7-3), the Vikings starter, took the loss. Kari Peterson (Sr., Blooming Prairie, Minn.) went three-for-four with a double and two RBI, while Schrader went two-for-four with a double and an RBI. On Saturday, April 16, the Lady Reds play host to conference-opponent and No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan University in a 1 p.m. twinbill at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.
