KENOSHA, WIS.—After a week hiatus from competition, the Carthage College softball team welcomed North Park University to the Lady Reds Softball Field for their CCIW opener on Wednesday.
Stefanie Guercio's 12 strikeouts in a complete-game pitching effort wasn't enough to propel the Lady Reds in a 2-1 loss to the Vikings in game one. The Lady Reds outhit North Park 15-2 in game two en route to a 9-1 (six innings) victory.
The split send Carthage's record to 13-5, 1-1 CCIW while North Park exits Wednesday 9-9, 1-3 CCIW.
North Park 2, Lady Reds 1
Guercio, who entered Wednesday third in the country in 13.2 strikeouts per seven innings and 3.00 hits allowed per seven innings, struck out the side in the first two innings before she surrendered a third-inning run. Hayley Jackson knocked in Ellie Manderfeld from third base on a sacrifice fly to right field to give North Park a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
The Vikings pushed their lead to 2-0 in the fifth inning when Alyssa Aragon, who singled, scored from first base off Jackson's double, and an outfield throwing error. The Lady Reds cut their deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of five when
Courtney Polanski drove-in
Donna Stevens on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded, where
Makenzie Miller was out at second base.
North Park pitcher Amara Leith allowed eight hits and struckout just one batter in her complete-game victory, while Guercio allowed six hits and one earned run. Miller was a spark plug for the Lady Reds offense with a 3-for-3 outing at the dish along with a walk, while
Donna Stevens notched a 2-for-4 day.
Lady Reds 9, North Park 1
Carthage's four-run first inning came courtesy of RBI-doubles from Stevens and
Ellie Bernero (2 runs), and an RBI-single from Alonzo. The Lady Reds torched North Park starting pitcher Hayley Jackson for six hits in the opening inning, helping them attain a 4-0 lead. The Vikings responded with their lone run of the game in the bottom of the first to cut their deficit to 4-1.
Alonzo, who went the distance on the pitching rubber for Carthage, helped herself with a two-run single through the right side that scored Marissa Madonado and
Alexandra Millett to push the Lady Reds' lead to 6-1 in the fourth inning.
Brooke Sefcik, who singled, came around to score off Polanski's fly ball that was dropped in the outfield to make the score 7-1 in the fifth inning. Polanski touched home plate off
Rylee Johnson's single to push the margin to 8-1. Carthage mustered two-out damage in the sixth inning, where Miller concluded her monstrous day with a single before being relieved on the base pads for
Danielle Koziczkowski. After she advanced to third on Bernero's single, Koziczkowski scored off Sefcik's single to make the score 9-1. Carthage retired the side in the bottom of six to end the game via the eight-run mercy rule.
Alonzo struckout two batters and allowed just two hits in the complete-game victory, improving her record to 5-1. Jackson allowed 11 hits and struckout just one batter over five innings in the circle for North Park.
Miller, Alonzo, Bernero, Sefcik, Polanski and Maldonado each had two hits for the Lady Reds.
Carthage will square-off against University of Chicago (DH) at the Stagg Field Complex in Chicago tomorrow, Thursday, April 4 at 3:00 p.m.
