Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Carthage College softball team (30-10, 12-2 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked 17th in the May 1 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, lost to Augustana College (Ill., 29-12), 4-0, on Saturday afternoon, May 4 in the title game of the CCIW Softball Tournament at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.  With the win, the Vikings earned the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship. 
 
Carthage advanced to the championship round on Saturday morning, May 4 by eliminating No. 19 Illinois Wesleyan University (30-9), 4-3 in a semifinal game.  The Lady Reds lost to Augustana (Ill., 28-12), 2-1, on Friday, May 3 in the second round after edging No. 27 North Central College (32-9), 3-2, in a first-round game.  In the other first-round game on Friday, Augustana (Ill., 27-12) came from behind to beat No. 19 Illinois Wesleyan University (30-8), 7-6.  In Friday's elimination game, Illinois Wesleyan (31-8) knocked out North Central (Ill., 32-10), 5-2.
 
In the semifinal win over IWU, Carthage took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI-single by Vicki Pyan.  The Lady Reds made it 3-0 in the third.  With runners on second and third and two outs, Abby Hanson hit a roller that went through the legs of Titan shortstop Courtney Martin and scored both runners.  Carthage went  up, 4-0, in the fourth on an RBI-double by Jen Precht.  Illinois Wesleyan loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Carthage pitcher Krystina Leazer (Sr., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove) got both Keri Leach and Emma Clark on swinging strikeouts to avoid any damage. 

The Titans got on the scoreboard with a run in the sixth and made things interesting in the seventh.  The Titans' Emma Clark hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 4-2, and Allie Riordan followed with an RBI-single to make it a 4-3 game.  Leazer then got Hannah Bowen on an infield grounder to end the game.  Leazer upped her record to 21-4 with the win.  She allowed three runs, two earned on 10 hits and two walks.  Alyssa Vorel (14-4) took the loss.  Bryanna Heckel (Jr., Kenosha, Wis./Salem-Westosha Central) had two hits for the Lady Reds.
 
In the title-game loss to Augustana, an RBI-single by Jenna Teson in the second inning got the Vikings on the board first.  Cheyenne Burnett hit an RBI-single for the Vikings in the third to give them a 2-0 lead.  The Lady Reds loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but hit into a third base-catcher-first double play to end the threat.  Augustana scored two more runs in the sixth, both with two outs.  Jenna Teson singled in the first run of the inning, and pinch-runner Lisa Bartha scored from second when Lady Reds centerfielder Jen Precht dropped a fly ball.  Carthage put two runners on base to open the seventh inning, but the third of Augustana's three double plays helped kill that rally.
 
Sarah Hintz (13-6) was the winning pitcher for the Vikings, and she blanked the Lady Reds on six hits and two walks over six innings.  Ashley Anderson entered the game with the two runners on base in the seventh and earned her third save.  Tina Campbell (Jr., St. Petersburg, Fla./Lakewood, 9-6) took the loss and gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk over five and two-thirds innings.  Corinne Sheley and Abby Hanson each had two hits for Carthage. 

The Lady Reds still expect an at-large berth to the NCAA championship when the field is announced on Monday, May 6 at 9 a.m.