WHITEWATER, WIS.—History was at stake for the Carthage College softball team in their bout against #23 UW-Whitewater on day two of the 2019 NCAA Division III Regional Tournament at Van Steenderen Field in Whitewater, Wisconsin on Saturday. The Lady Reds were on a mission to defeat the Warhawks for the first time since March 16, 1998, and open an NCAA Tournament with two victories for the first time in program history.
Mission accomplished.
The Lady Reds' 2-0 victory on Saturday books them a ticket to the UW-Whitewater Regional Championship Round against the Warhawks tomorrow, Sunday, May 12 at 12:00 p.m. All Carthage needs is one victory to punch a ticket to the NCAA Division III Super Regional on May 17-18. A Lady Reds loss at 12:00 p.m. will force another game that will be played at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Carthage's last victory over UW-Whitewater was a 6-3 score on March 16, 1998 in Orlando, Florida.
The Lady Reds improve to 28-14 while UW-Whitewater falls to 27-13.
Stefanie Guercio went the distance on the pitching rubber for Carthage, where she allowed six hits, one walk and tallied four strikeouts to improve to 20-4 on the season. All Guercio needed was two swings of the bat as
Kelsey Domagala's second-inning home run, and
Ellie Bernero's fourth-inning home run secured Carthage a 2-0 victory. The four-baggers marked Domagala's third of the season and second of the tournament, while Bernero now has two in 2019.
Domagala paced Carthage at the plate with a 2-for-3 outing, while Bernero,
Alexandra Millett,
Brooke Sefcik and
Rylee Johnson also chipped in hits.
Warhawks pitcher Bella Matthias took the loss as she allowed four hits and struckout four batters over five innings of work before Dani Biesiada relieved her for the final two frames. Kaiden Jackson and Caitlin Catino each contributed two-hit games for UW-Whitewater en route to a team total of six.
Lady Reds pitcher
Stefanie Guercio needs one more strikeout to tie Krystina Leazer's (2013) single-season record of 225.
