FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (May 1, 2009)--  Katie Pappa drove in nine of the team's 14 runs as North Central College breezed to the 6-2 win over Augustana College in the opener before pulling out the 8-6 upset over top-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University in a marathon extra innings contest to conclude day one of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Softball Tournament at IWU Field. The wins advance the Cardinals to tomorrow's championship game where they will look to repeat as conference champions and claim the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Augustana struck first in the opener, plating a run with two outs in the top of the second off a Missy Fobert single, loading the bases in the process. The Cardinals would contain the damage, getting the inning's final out, stranding three Viking runners on-base.

Pappa tied the game in the third, driving in Justine Walker who pinch ran for Laura Constantine after drawing a leadoff walk. Pappa would come around and score on a wild pitch while a Laura Whitfield single tallied the innings third run, scoring Holly Roadruck.

Pappa would drive in two more in the fourth, pushing the Cardinal advantage to 5-1 after she singled down the right field line, scoring Constantine and Alyssa Rabulinski. In the sixth, Pappa singled up the middle, scoring Kelli Lofgren to pad the lead to five with just one inning remaining.

The Vikings (28-13) would attempt one final rally, scoring a run on a fielding error to pull within four before hitting into a double play to end the game.

Roadruck earned the win, pitching all seven innings, allowing just one earned run while Jackie Gill (13-6) suffered the loss, tossing four innings and yielding five earned runs.

Pappa accounted for four of the team's 10 hits, finishing the game a perfect four-for-four at the plate with four RBIs while Whitfield and Rabulinski each turned in two-for-four performances.

In the late game, North Central needed 13 innings to put away the regular season champions after letting an early 5-0 lead slip away.

Against the 12th ranked Titans (31-4), North Central loaded the bases in the top of the second, setting up Pappa who belted a grand slam to right center field giving the visitors the early 4-0 advantage. Sammie Bloomfield followed Pappa with a home run of her own, pounding the ball over the fence in right center, boosting the Cardinal lead to 5-0. IWU chipped away at the lead in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a run off a Kayla Mahony single.

A Mahony double in the fourth drove in two before a Lisa Narotsky single to center field plated a pair, knotting the game at five apiece. A Kris Lee solo shot to left field gave the Titans the 6-5 edge in the fifth inning while in the seventh, a leadoff single by Pappa set up an opportunity for pinch runner Walker to score on a fielding error and send the game into extra innings.

After five innings of missed opportunities for both clubs, the Cardinals grabbed the lead in the top of the 13th, scoring two runs off a Mary Caron double to right center and a Pappa single to left field. The Titans attempted one last push in the bottom of the 13th, loading the bases with two outs before a fly out to Caron concluded the marathon game.

Roaduck (15-5) entering the game in the fourth in relief of Katie Crawford, tossing the game's final nine and one-third innings, allowing just one run to pick up her second win of the day. IWU's Christy Engel suffered the loss, tossing 11 and two-third innings, fanning nine batters and allowing just two earned runs.

Pappa highlighted the team's offensive efforts, finishing four-for-seven with five RBIs while Bloomfield, Roadruck and Erin Drennan all finished with two hits apiece.

The Cardinals and Titans combined to strand 24 runners on base with 11 of those coming in the six extra frames.

With the wins, North Central (27-10) advances to the Championship game tomorrow at 12 p.m. where they will face the winner of the Illinois Wesleyan/Carthage College elimination game.