Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Carthage College softball team (18-2, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 26th in the April 4 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, swept a Thursday, April 5 doubleheader from Loras College (11-9), 6-0 and 6-5, at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.
 
Carthage scored a run in the first inning without the benefit of a hit.  The Lady Reds added two runs on one hit in the second to make it a 3-0 game.  Bryanna Heckel's RBI-single in the fourth made it 4-0.  Vicky Pyan singled in a run in the fourth, and the score was 5-0.  Alyssa Schrader's RBI-single in the sixth gave Carthage a 6-0 lead.  Lady Reds hurler Krystina Leazer (Jr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 11-1) stopped the Duhawks with a two-hit shutout and one walk, while striking out 10 batters.  Stephanie Popovich (4-2) took the loss.  Bryanna Heckel and Jen Precht each had two hits for Carthage.
 
Loras took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning of the nightcap, but Bryanna Heckel's RBI-double in the bottom half tied the game, 1-1.  The Duhawks scored three times on two hits in the second to take a 4-1 lead.  The Lady Reds erased that with a five-run second, capped by a grand-slam home run by Alyssa Schrader, Carthage's career home run leader with 28 round-trippers and her fifth this season.  Loras scored a run in the fifth to shave the lead to 6-5, but the Lady Reds hung on to win.  Pitcher Alyssa Schrader (Sr., Plainfield, Ill./South) improved her record to 7-1.  She allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits and a walk.  Laura Mangialardi (2-1) took the loss. 

Carthage plays host to Carroll University (10-4) on Monday, April 9 in a 3 p.m. doubleheader, also at the Carthage Softball Field.