ELMHURST, ILL.—The second CCIW doubleheader of 2019 pitted the Carthage College softball team at Elmhurst College (DH) for a Saturday-afternoon affair at Salt Creek Park in Elmhurst, Illinois. Lady Reds pitcher Stefanie Guercio was nearly flawless for the Lady Reds as she allowed just one hit, walked no batters, and registered 10 strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over the Bluejays in game one. Carthage pounded 15 hits in game two, led by Courtney Polanski's 4-for-4 day at the plate in a 10-2 (6 innings) thrashing over Elmhurst.
 
The sweep gives Carthage a 15-5, 3-1 CCIW record, while Elmhurst drops to 6-9, 0-2 CCIW.
 
Lady Reds 3, Elmhurst 0
 
Carthage broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, when Polanski drove in Ellie Bernero with a single to make the score 1-0. Bernero previously reached base on an infield single. The sixth inning resulted in two more runs, where Donna Stevens set the tone with a walk before she advanced to second on Naomi Alonzo's sacrifice bunt. This set up Bernero's RBI-double to center field that scored Stevens to push the score to 2-0. Déjà vu tooks its toll as Bernero scored off an RBI single from Polanski for the second time in the contest to widen the margin to 3-0, where things stayed final.
 
Polanski and Bernero each went 2-for-3 at the plate for Carthage, who out-hit Elmhurst 7-1. Guercio threw seven innings in the circle for Carthage, where she upped her record to 8-2 with 10 strikeouts while allowing just one hit and no walks.
 
Lady Reds 10, Elmhurst 2
 
Lady Reds starting pitcher Naomi Alonzo helped herself in the first inning, when she hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Alexandra Millett to give her team a 1-0 lead.
 
Offense was the story of the fifth inning as Elmhurst tallied their only two runs of the contest in the top half of the frame en route to a 2-1 lead. It ignited Carthage's six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, where RBI-singles from Guercio (2 runs), Brooke Sefcik, Polanski, and Kelsey Domagala (2) put Carthage in the driver's seat at 7-2.
 
The Lady Reds went a step above that in the sixth inning as all three of their runs came via the double. Polanski (2) and Rylee Johnson each knocked in runs with sixth-inning doubles to give Carthage a 10-2 win via the eight-run mercy rule.
 
Alonzo allowed just three hits and struckout four batters throughout the first four innings in the pitching circle. Guercio came in for the final two innings, where she allowed four hits and struckout three in the pitching win to improve to 9-2 on the season.
 
The Lady Reds will host Concordia University Chicago (DH) at the Carthage Softball Field on Wednesday, April 10 at 3:00 p.m.