KENOSHA, WIS.—A mix of wind and rain was in the forecast for the Carthage College Softball team's final CCIW doubleheader of the season against Elmhurst College at the Carthage Softball Field on Wednesday afternoon. Mother nature decided to hold out until the tail end of the doubleheader, which allowed the Lady Reds and Bluejays to complete both games.
 
Carthage knew they needed a pair of wins against Elmhurst to have a chance to qualify for the 2016 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament, and they played like it was their last game from beginning-to-end.
 
Darian Pelsor's two-run home run in the fifth inning highlighted the Lady Red's 8-1 victory over the Bluejays in game one. Pelsor knocked in a Carthage single-game record eight RBI in game two, which helped the Lady Reds cruise past the Bluejays 16-2.
 
Carthage improves to 18-18, 7-7 CCIW while Elmhurst falls to 18-18, 5-9 CCIW. The Lady Reds will have to wait for their CCIW Tournament fate, pending the results of Saturday's doubleheader between North Central and Augustana College. The Vikings, who currently own a 5-7 CCIW, will need to drop a pair of games to North Central College in order to help Carthage earn the #4 seed.
 
Lady Reds 8, Elmhurst 1
 
The Bluejays tallied a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the rest was history. The Lady Reds responded with eight unanswered runs to close the rest of the game.
 
It all began in the second inning when Pelsor led off with a single. After Abby Thompson replaced her on first with a fielder's choice, Sam McCloud and Kayla Uhwat-Vicicondi walked to load the bases. Vivian Juarez and Makenzie Walker each tallied RBI's on a single, and sacrifice fly to give Carthage a 2-1 lead.
 
Walker reached on an error to begin a Lady Red three-run fifth inning. She reached third base on Shannon Walsh's sacrifice bunt, and Kristine Herdegen's single to put runners on the corners. This set up Hailey Rothstein's sacrifice fly that scored Walker to push Carthage's lead to 3-1. Pelsor made it 5-1 on a two-run home run, that also scored Herdegen.
 
The Lady Reds put the icing on the cake with a three-run sixth inning. Juarez and Walker reached on a fielder's choice, and walk to put runners on first and second. Juarez scored on a Walsh double to push the score to 6-1. Herdegen followed that with a two-run single that scored Walker and Walsh to make the score 8-1.
 
Katie Herron reached the double-digit strikeout plateau for the eighth time this season with 11. She scattered one run on four hits in the complete-game effort on the pitching rubber. Herdegen and Pelsor each tallied three hits for the Lady Reds.
 
Lady Reds 16, Elmhurst 2
 
The Lady Reds mustered four runs to take a 4-0 lead in the first inning. An RBI-single from Rothstein, followed by a two-run single from Pelsor highlighted the four-run first inning for the Lady Reds.
 
The foot wasn't taken off Carthage's gas pedal, and Pelsor made that clear with a three-run home run in the second inning to push the score to 7-0.
 
The Bluejays tallied one run in the second inning, but that didn't faze the Lady Reds. The long ball continued to be the remedy for Carthage as Walker hit a two-run home run to left field to widen the margin to 9-1 in the third inning.

Lauren Rismondo hit a solo-home run for Elmhurst in the fourth inning to make the score 9-2.
 
As the rain drifted toward the Carthage Softball Field in the seventh inning, so did the runs. The Lady Reds batted around the order en route to seven runs in the seventh inning. Lauren Jones, Sam Caputo, Sam Payton and Pelsor each tallied RBIs to pace the Lady Reds. Three of those RBI's came from Pelsor, who notched a bases-loaded double to right field to widen the score 16-2. This also secured a single-game record eight RBI.

Walker and Pelsor each went 4-for-5 with a home run at the plate for the Lady Reds. Walker went the distance on the pitching rubber and scattered two runs on six hits in the game. 
 
The Lady Reds will close the 2016 regular season on Friday, April 29 at St. Norbert College. The doubleheader will begin at 3:00 p.m.