Carthage 1, Elmhurst 0
Elmhurst 9, Carthage 5

The Carthage College softball team (20-14, 10-4 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) split a Saturday, April 30 doubleheader from CCIW-opponent Elmhurst College (15-23, 7-7 CCIW) at Salt Creek Park in Elmhurst, Ill. Carthage won the opening game, 1-0, before losing the nightcap by a 9-5 margin. The twinbill ended the regular-season conference schedule for both teams.

First-place Millikin University (23-11, 11-1) swept a Saturday doubleheader from Wheaton College (Ill., 22-15-1, 7-7), 4-2 and 4-2, in Wheaton, Ill., to clinch the league championship and the home field for next weekend's CCIW Softball Tournament. Carthage will be the second seed, but the third and fourth teams must await the completion of a Sunday, May 1 twinbill between Millikin and North Central College.

In the opening game, Alyssa Schrader's sixth home run of the season broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, and that was all of the scoring. Lady Reds hurler Krystina Leazer (So., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 17-5) won her seventh-straight game and her third this weekend with a one-hitter, walking one and striking out eight batters. Amanda Bowlin's fourth-inning single was the lone Bluejays hit. The Lady Red managed only two hits off losing pitcher Stephanie Iori (9-11).

Coach Amy Gillmore started Leazer again in the nightcap, but the sophomore ran out of gas. Elmhurst scored seven runs off Leazer in four and two-thirds innings to take a 7-2 lead. Clare Bukowski hit a two-run home run the first inning, and Julie Devine's two-run double capped a four-run fifth inning. Leazer (17-6), the first-of-three Carthage pitchers took the loss, and she's one win shy of tying Amanda Leitzen's 2005 season record of 18 wins. Stephanie Iori (10-11), in relief of Lindsay Nauman, was the winning pitcher.

Clare Bukowski went two-for-three with a double, a home run and four RBI for the Bluejays. For Carthage, Alysa Mikolas (Fr., Kenosha, Wis./Bradford) went three-for-four with a home run and two RBI, while Alyssa Schrader (Jr., Plainfield, Ill./South) had two hits in four trips with her seventh home run and two RBI. Carthage close out its regular-season schedule on Monday, May 2 with a 4 p.m. twinbill versus Judson University (Ill., 31-13) in Elgin, Ill.