Box Score The Carthage College softball team (21-5, 8-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) took control of the CCIW softball race on Tuesday, April 16 by sweeping a doubleheader from second-place and No. 23 North Central College (25-3, 3-3 CCIW), 5-1 and 7-2, at the Shanower Family Softball Field in Naperville, Ill. 

The Lady Reds have a three-game lead over Millikin University (17-6, 5-3), now in second place, with six conference games to play.  Carthage has won 11 games in a row, the third-longest win streak in school history.
 
North Central took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the opener on an RBI-double by Amanda Walker.  Carthage came up with five runs in the sixth inning.  Katie Morman singled in the first run.  Abby Hanson followed with an RBI-double, Olivia Scott an RBI-grounder, Alyse Mikolas an RBI-double and Amy Slattery a run-scoring single.  Alyse Mikolas (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Bradford) went three-for-three and Corinne Sheley (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) three-for-four.  Krystina Leazer (Sr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 13-2) allowed just one run on four hits and walk, while striking out eight batters.  Cardinals hurdler Vlasta Mangia (16-1) took her first loss of the season.
 
Carthage took a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap.  The first run scored on an infield error.  Katie Morman doubled in a run, and Olivia  Scott hit a sacrifice fly.  Another three-run inning in the third made it 6-0.  Vicki Pyan hit a solo home run the third and Abby Hanson a two-run shot.  The Cardinals got on the board with two runs in the fourth, and the he Lady Reds added a run in the sixth for the final, 7-2 margin. 

Krystina Leazer (Sr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 14-2), pitching complete games in both ends of the twinbill, stopped North Central in the second game on two runs on four hits, a walk and seven strikeouts.  Vlasta Mangia (16-2), also pitching both games, took the loss.  Bryanna Heckel (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Salem-Westosha Central), Katie Morman (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Somer-Shoreland Lutheran) and Abby Hanson (Jr., Winthrop Harbor, Ill./Zion-Benton Township) each had two hits in the second game.
 
On Sunday, April 21, the Lady Reds play host to conference-opponent Illinois Wesleyan University in a Noon twinbill at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.