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Tournament Live Stats
 
The Carthage College softball team (34-8, 11-3 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 20th in the May 2 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, advanced to the championship round of the CCIW Softball Tournament on Saturday morning, May 5 by eliminating Millikin University (23-18), 3-0, at the Illinois Wesleyan University Softball Field in Bloomington, Ill. The Lady Reds then needed two straight wins over the Titans to claim the tournament championship, but fell short, 7-5, in their first try.

With the tournament championship, No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan (36-6) receives the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship. The field for the 61-team championship will be announced by the NCAA on Monday, May 7 at 9 a.m., CDT.

The Titans plated a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a 5-5 deadlock. Carthage's big inning came in the bottom of the third, scoring four times in turning a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 advantage. After IWU tallied two in the fourth, the Lady Reds pushed a run across in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Corrine Sheley (So., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley), knotting the game up heading into the seventh and final frame.

Illinois Wesleyan out-hit the Lady Reds, 7-3 in the contest. Krystina Leazer (Jr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) came on in relief of Alyssa Schrader (Sr., Plainfield, Ill./South) to work the last two innings and absorb the pitching loss. Molly McCready went the distance on the pitching rubber in picking up the win for the Titans.
 
The Lady Reds had to play two 10-inning games on Friday, May 4, the second one to stay alive at the tournament.  Carthage lost to Millikin University, 5-3 in 10 innings, in a first-round game. Illinois Wesleyan defeated Elmhurst College, 4-2, on Friday in the other first-round contest.  The Lady Reds then needed 10 more innings to eliminate Elmhurst (25-16), 5-3.  In Friday's late game, Illinois Wesleyan blanked Millikin, 7-0, in a winner's bracket game. 
 
In Saturday's semifinal game versus Millikin, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Olivia Scott tripled and scored on an errant relay throw.  A two-run home run by Scott in the fourth inning upped the Lady Reds' lead to 3-0.  That was all the support Leazer needed to improve her record to 25-4.  Leazer blanked the Big Blue on six hits and two walks over seven innings.  Lauren Kitterman (12-7) took the loss.  Olivia Scott (Fr., Plainfield, Ill./Central) went two-for-two for Carthage.

Due to the proximity of the CCIW Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Illinois Wesleyan's Tucci Stadium, the afternoon games in the CCIW Softball Tournament were scheduled to be played at Illinois State University's Martin Kneer Softball Stadium in Normal, Ill.  However, Illinois State staff did not tarp the field on Thursday night, and the facility was not playable.  So, games three and four wound up staying at the Illinois Wesleyan facility but were delayed until Friday night when track and field was completed for the day.
 
In the first-round Millikin game, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a leadoff home run by Katie Morman (Fr., Kenosha, Wis./Somers-Shoreland Lutheran).  Millikin came right back with two runs in the second and one in the third to take a 3-1 lead.  Jan Ellis hit a two-run single in the second, and Kathleen Campbell homered in the third.  The Lady Reds thought they had pulled to within one run, 3-2, in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Bryanna Heckel, but Vick Pyan was thrown out at the plate.
 
In the Carthage sixth, pinch-hitter Olivia Scott led off with a single, and Pyan followed with a two-run homer to tie the game, 3-3.  In the Lady Reds' seventh inning, Morman hit a one-out single and was replaced by pinch-runner Alyssa Sirocchi.  Alyse Mikolas walked, but Pyan hit into an inning-ending double play to send the game into extra innings.
 
The Big Blue broke through in the top of the 10th inning against Carthage and starting pitcher Krystina Leazer (Jr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove).  With two outs, Tess Strang walked, and Kathleen Campbell followed with a two-run homer to put Millikin up, 5-3.  The Lady Reds mounted a rally in the bottom of the inning.  With one out, Alyssa Schrader singled and advanced to second when Abby Hanson reached base on a fielding error at second base.  The next batter, Bryanna Heckel bounced a ball to shortstop, and Schrader was forced at third base for the second out.  Both runner moved up on a wild pitch, but Amy Slattery grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.
 
Whitney Schafman (5-6), in relief of Lauren Kitterman, was the winning pitcher.  Leazer (23-4) took the loss by allowing five runs on 10 hits and two walks over 10 innings, while striking out 11 batters.  Morman and Vicki Pyan each had two hits for the Lady Reds.
 
In the third inning of the Elmhurst contest, Carthage' Bryanna Heckel reached base on a fielding error by Bluejays' shortstop Katie Boals.  Heckel moved to second base on a bunt, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Jen Precht.  Elmhurst tied the game in the third on an RBI-single by Meg Griffin, and the Bluejays went up, 2-1, in the fourth on a solo home run by Lindsey Mikulecky.  The Lady Red re-gained the lead, 3-2, thanks to a two-run fifth inning.  Katie Morman and Jen Precht hit back-to-back RBI-singles in the fifth.  The Bluejays knotted things up, 3-3, in the sixth on a solo homer by Clare Bukowski.  Carthage snapped the tie in the 10th inning on a two-run single by Corinne Sheley.
 
Krystina Leazer (24-4) picked up the win in relief of Alyssa Schrader.  Schrader allowed two runs on six hits and a walk over the first four innings.  Leazer limited the Bluejays to one run on three hits and a walk over the final six frames.  Lindsay Nauman (11-8) took the loss.  Abby Hanson (So., Winthrop Harbor, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) had two hits for Carthage.