Carthage 5, Northland 0
Carthage 5, Defiance 2
CLERMONT, Fla. - The Carthage softball team continued play in their spring break trip to Florida with a doubleheader against the Northland LumberJills and the Defiance Yellowjackets. It was another strong set of outings for the Firebirds, as the team came away with another sweep and extended their winning streak to four games.



VS NORTHLAND

The Firebirds and LumberJills held each other scoreless through the first three innings of play. In the top of the fourth, Izzy Hernandez grounded out to second base which brought home Gwen Hendrick for the first run of the game. In the top of the fifth, Kristina Chronos reached first safely on an error, allowing Abby Wierzbicki to score to put the Firebirds up by a pair of runs. In the top half of the sixth inning, Maddie Conway hit a sacrifice fly to left field and brought home Olivia Hristov to extend the lead to 3-0. Hendrick brought home the final two runs in the top of the seventh with an RBI single to center field. Chronos and Clare Rettler scored on the play. Conway was the winning pitcher for the Firebirds and improved to 1-0 on the season.

VS DEFIANCE

The Yellowjackets jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first with an RBI infield single. However, the Firebirds answered right back in the bottom half of the inning as Hendrick hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring home Rettler and tie the game.

In the bottom of the second inning, Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly into foul territory to score Peyton Kryza and give the Firebirds a 2-1 lead.

The Yellowjackets fired right back in the top of the third, using an RBI single to tie the game again at two. Hendrick once again gave the Firebirds the lead in the bottom of the third, using a groundout to second base to bring home Rettler for the second time in the game.

Wierzbicki gave the Firebirds an insurance run in the fifth inning with a single to center field that brought home Hana Adler. Hernandez added another run to the lead in the sixth inning by bringing home Hristov with an RBI groundout. 

Adler earned the win in relief for the Firebirds and improved to 1-0 on the young season. Conway picked up her first save of the year.

• Conway was electric in the pitcher's circle against Northland, pitching a complete game shutout and allowing just two hits. She struck out seven of the 25 hitters that came to the plate
• Rettler went 6-6 in the day with three runs scored
• Hendrick earned four RBIs in the doubleheader

The Firebirds return to action on Wednesday, March 6 to take on Calvin at 10:15 a.m. EST and Wentworth Institute of Technology at 12:45 p.m. EST. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.