Box Score The Carthage College softball team (21-11, 8-6 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) closed out its regular-season conference schedule on Saturday, April 26 by splitting a doubleheader with Millikin University (17-18, 1-9 CCIW) at Borg Warner Field in Decatur, Ill.  The Big Blue won the first game, 3-2 in eight innings, and the Lady Reds took the nightcap, 4-2. 

Carthage swept a Friday, April 25 CCIW-doubleheader with North Park University in Chicago to clinch a berth in next week's CCIW Softball Tournament.  This will be Carthage's 17th conference-tournament appearance since 1988.  The two wins provided Carthage coach Amy Gillmore with her 400th career victory (400-242, 17 years thru April 25).
 
Illinois Wesleyan (12-2 CCIW) swept a Saturday twinbill from North Park to clinch the conference title, and the Titans will play host to the conference tournament on Friday-Saturday, May 2-3 in Bloomington, Ill.  Fourth-seeded Carthage will take on Illinois Wesleyan in a first-round game on Friday, with second-seeded Augustana College (Ill., 10-4) playing third-seeded North Central College (9-5) in the other first-round contest.
 
In the opening game at Millikin, the Big Blue took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run by Hillary Shelton.  The Lady Reds came back with two runs in the fourth on an RBI-single by Abby Hanson and a passed ball that allowed Katie Morman to score.  Millikin tied the game in the seventh on an RBI-single by Rachael Bishop and won the game in the eighth on a two-out walk-off home run by Raeshel Braden.  Taylor Hull (14-8) was the winning pitcher, and she limited Carthage to two runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk.  Jessica Kirby (0-1), in relief of Makenzie Walker, took the loss.  Katie Morman (Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Somers-Shoreland Lutheran) went two-for-four.
 
In the second game, Morman's solo home run in the second inning gave Carthage an early, 1-0 lead.  Millikin scored twice in the third, before the Lady Reds tallied three runs in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead.  Vicki Pyan led off the fourth with a home run.  Katie Herron (So., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) picked up the win by holding Millikin to two runs, one earned, on five hits and two walks over four innings.  Tina Campbell (Sr., St. Petersburg, Fla./Lakewood) blanked the Big Blue over the final three innings on no hits to earn her second save.  Vicky Pyan and Abby Hanson each had two hits.
 
Carthage closes out its regular-season schedule on Sunday, April 27 by playing host to non-conference opponent the University of Chicago in a 1 p.m. twinbill at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.