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

Husson Box Score
Lakeland Box Score
Pacific Box Score
Central Box Score

TUCSON, Ariz. (Mar. 19, 2011)-- The North Central College softball team opened up their season on Friday and Saturday by winning three of its four games at the Tucson Invitational Games, piling on 47 runs in the process.

The Cardinals (3-1) opened on Friday by downing Husson University (Maine) 7-3 before blasting Lakeland College (Wis.), 14-0, in a mercy-rule shortened game. North Central continued where it left off on Saturday, pounding out 19 hits in a 15-4 rout of Pacific University (Ore.) before suffering a 9-0 setback to 11th-ranked Central College (Iowa).

Against Husson, a four-run sixth inning proved to be the difference maker in a game that saw the Cardinals capitalize on Eagle errors, scoring five unearned runs. A Lauren Schramm two-out single plated the sixth inning's first run before Vlasta Mangia belted a 2 RBI double. Laura Whitfield accounted for the inning's fourth run, scoring on a wild pitch.

Erin Drennan finished three-for-five at the plate, also scoring a pair of runs while Mangia was three-for-four with three RBIs. Brianna Nelson earned the victory, tossing six innings and striking out five.

In the nightcap, the Cardinals utilized a pair of six-run innings to cruise to the 14-0 victory in a game shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule. North Central tacked on six runs in the opening frame before pushing across two more runs in the second inning. The Cardinals erupted for another six-run outburst in the third in a game that saw five players finish with multiple hits.

Mangia led the team, going three-for-three with three RBIs while tossing a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits while fanning seven batters.

Trailing 3-0 after two innings of play, the Cardinals utilized a pair of big innings to rally and score 15 of the game's final 16 runs to knockout the Boxers for the mercy-rule victory.

Pacific plated a run in the first inning before taking advantage of Cardinal miscues to tally two more runs in the second.  North Central quickly erased the three-run deficit in the third with a five-run outburst before taking on three more in the fifth and seven more runs in the sixth inning.

Erin Drennan led the offense with four RBIs, finishing the game four-for-five while Schramm was two-for-four with three RBIs. Nelson tallied her second win of the season in the circle, striking out two.

An eight run opening inning by the 11th-ranked Dutch spelled trouble for the Cardinals, suffering their first defeat of the season on Saturday. An error on the opening play of the game set the stage for a big first inning for Central, plating eight runs off just five hits.

Mangia absorbed the loss, pitching the opening inning before giving way to Katie Crawford who allowed just two hits and one run over the final four innings of play.

The Cardinals are idle on Sunday before returning to the diamond on Monday, facing Carleton College (Minn.) at 10 a.m. (Local Time) and Saint Olaf College (Minn.) at 12 p.m.