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

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

Apr. 2, 2011-- North Central College's seven-game winning streak came to a halt on Saturday in the team's home opener, falling 7-6 and 5-3 to Aurora University in a non-conference softball doubleheader at Shanower Field.

The Spartans (9-5) capitalized on Cardinal (10-4) fielding miscues in both contest's to come away with the sweep.

North Central held a 3-1 lead after four innings of play in the opener, plating a pair of runs in the fourth off an Erin Drennan home run blast to left field. Aurora exploited a two-out Cardinal error in the top of the fifth, piling on four unearned runs, including Stephanie Dolce driving in three after pounding a base-clearing double.

The Cardinals closed the gap to one run, plating Vlasta Mangia in the bottom of the fifth before the visitor's tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh. North Central had a promising start to the bottom of the seventh with a lead off double by Laura Constantine and an RBI single by Taylor Ryan. Ryan would eventually score for the game's final run on an error before the Spartans induced a fly out for the final out.

The Drennan sisters led the offensive attack in game one, Erin Drennan finished three-for-four with two RBIs while Colleen Drennan was two-for-four.

Hope Webster (3-3) earned the compete game victory for Aurora while Brianna Nelson (6-1) suffered her first loss of the season, tossing the final 2 2/3 innings in relief of Vlasta Mangia.

A fielding error in the first inning of game two turned a three-up, three-down inning into a three-run outburst for the Spartans. Lillie Stone made the Cardinals pay for the mistake, blasting a three-run shot over the left field fence for the 3-0 lead. Aurora utilized the longball again in the third inning with Brooke Spencer belting a two-run blast.

North Central got on the board in the sixth inning with Alyssa Rabulinski knocking in Laura Whitfield before a Justine Walker groundout plated Mangia, who reached base on a single, closing out the scoring.

Mangia finished the game as the only Cardinal with multiple hits, ending the game two-for-three.

Lindsay Decker (4-0) picked up the victory in the circle for the Spartans, striking out four in the complete game effort. Katie Crawford (2-2) was saddled with the loss, yielding two earned runs in three inning of work. Gaby Moe made her debut in the circle, pitching the final four innings, allowing just one hit and fanning three batters.

The Cardinals open up College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play on Tuesday making the trek to Elmhurst College for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.