BLOOMINGTON, ILL.—The 2019 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament Super Regional was upon the Carthage College softball team, who embarked on the event for the first time at Illinois Wesleyan University on Friday afternoon. Records continued to fall for the Lady Reds courtesy of junior pitcher
Stefanie Guercio, who recorded a single-season program record 10
th shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Titans in game one of the best-of-three NCAA Super Regional.
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The Lady Reds have now outscored the opposition 16-1 four games into the 2019 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, where they carry a 4-0 record. Carthage now owns an 11-8 all-time mark in the NCAA Tournament. One win against IWU tomorrow at 11:00 a.m./1:30 p.m. will book Carthage a trip to the 2019 NCAA Division III Softball World Series on May 23-28 in Tyler, Texas. The Lady Reds reach the 30-win thresold and improve to 30-14 while Illinois Wesleyan falls to 36-8.Â
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Guercio registered six strikeouts and allowed just three hits in the complete-game effort, which improved her record to 22-4 in 2019.
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The Carthage offense pounded Illinois Wesleyan University starting pitcher Ally Wiegand for six hits and a pair of runs. The damage began in the sixth inning, where
Alexandra Millett led off with a single before her pinch runner
Brooke Byas moved to third base off
Naomi Alonzo's single to put runners on the corners.
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Ellie Bernero came through in a huge way with a single up the middle that scored Byas to give Carthage a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. Alonzo circled the bases on the play and slide into home plate to widen the score to 2-0, thanks to a Titans outfield error.
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Bernero finished the game with a 2-for-3 outing at the dish for Carthage. Millett,
Donna Stevens, Alonzo and
Brooke Sefcik each notched a hit for the Lady Reds.
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Wiegand finished the contest with 10 strikeouts for Illinois Wesleyan.
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