Carthage 1, Wheaton (Ill.) 0
Carthage 7, Wheaton (Ill.) 4
The Carthage College softball team (11-9, 4-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) swept a Wednesday, April 6 doubleheader from CCIW-opponent Wheaton College (Ill., 11-8-1, 0-2 CCIW), 1-0 and 7-4, at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.
In the first game, Carthage pitcher Krystina Leazer (So., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 10-3) stopped out the Thunder on six hits and no walks over seven innings, while striking out 11 batters. Ainsley McCullough (4-3) took the loss. Carthage scored the game's lone run in the sixth inning. Bryanna Heckel led off with a single. One out later, she advanced to second on a wild pitch. Vicki Pyan grounded out to short, and Wheaton first baseman Elizabeth Perez threw the ball away at third base trying to cut down Heckel, who rounded third and scored.
In the second game, the Lady Reds scored two runs in the second inning on RBI-singles by Stephanie Schafer and Bryanna Heckel. Carthage added two in the third on an RBI-single by Katie Paulmeyer and an RBI-grounder by Jen Precht. The Thunder got all four runs back in the bottom of the third off starting pitcher Alyssa Sirocchi. Katie Iser singled in two runs, and Stacey Cladis hammered a two-run home run to leftfield to tie the game, 4-4. Carthage re-gained the lead, 6-4, in the fifth on a solo homer by Alyse Mikolas and a two-out RBI-single by Precht. An RBI-single by Alyssa Schrader in the sixth closed out the scoring at 7-4.
Starting pitcher Alyssa Sirocchi gave up the first four runs on six hits before giving way to Krystina Leazer in the third. Leazer (11-3) was the winning pitcher, and she blanked the Thunder on three hits and no walks over the final four and one-third innings, while striking out six batters. Danielle Schmidt (5-3) was the losing pitcher. Carthage's Jen Precht (So. Antioch, Ill.) went three-for-four with two RBI, and Alyssa Schrader (Jr., Plainfield, Ill./South) went two-for-four with a double and an RBI.
On Thursday, April 7, the Lady Reds travel to River Forest, Ill., to take on Concordia University (Chicago, 5-10) in a 3 p.m. doubleheader at the Concordia Softball Field.
