BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - In the first game of the 2023 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Softball Tournament, the No. 5 Carthage Firebirds softball team fell 2-0 to the No. 4 Augustana College Vikings at Inspiration Field. Carthage's offense failed to generate much action on the base paths against the Vikings' Nadia Ranieri, who recently was crowned as the CCIW's Pitcher of the Year, recording only four hits. 



 

• Final Score: No. 4 Augustana (Ill.) 2, No. 5 Carthage 0
• Location: Inspiration Field | Bloomington, Illinois. 
• Records: Carthage 12-22-1 (7-9 CCIW), Augustana 21-18 (9-7 CCIW)

 

• The No. 4 Vikings took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of second, scoring on an RBI single with two outs. 
• Augustana added to its early one-run lead, sending a runner across in the latter half of the third on an RBI double with two outs. 
• Carthage put a pair of runners on base in the fourth inning, but failed to convert with only one out. A strikeout and a fly out ended the Firebirds threat. 
• Despite putting two runners on in the fifth, Augustana failed to convert as Maddie Conway shut down any momentum by inducing a ground out. 
• Carthage's last six hitters went down in order, as the Firebirds fell 2-0 in the first round of the CCIW Softball Tournament. The 2023 CCIW Pitcher of the Year, Augustana's Nadia Ranieri, threw a complete game four-hit shutout. Ranieri struck out ten Firebirds, helping lead her team to the second round. 

 

• Three of Carthage's all-conference honorees - Clare Rettler, Izzy Hernandez, and Rylee Johnson - recorded a hit in this afternoon's contest. 
• Gracie Vlach recorded a hit and stole a base for Carthage. 
• Maddie Conway and first-year pitcher Olivia Hristov kept Carthage in the game all afternoon, holding Augustana to only two runs on four hits.