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Contact: Louis Groce, Graduate Assistant to the Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

(Apr. 16, 2013) – The North Central College softball team ran into some tough pitching and hot hitting from the Carthage College lineup and was defeated 5-1, and 7-2 at Shanower Family Field on Tuesday afternoon.

North Central (25-3, 3-3) got off to a promising start against reigning College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Pitcher of the Week Krystina Leazer (14-2) with a run in the first inning.  Vlasta Mangia hit a two-out infield single, stole second, and came around to score on the first of three Amanda Walker doubles.  However, Leazer settled in and didn't allow another baserunner until the fifth inning.  The next Cardinal hit came in the sixth. 

Not to be outdone in a matchup that featured two of the top pitchers in the CCIW, Mangia (16-2) held the Lady Reds (21-5, 8-0) scoreless until the sixth inning.  In the pivotal sixth inning, the Carthage lineup exploded for five runs on five hits, a deficit the Cardinals were unable to overcome. 

The rematch featured nearly the same exact lineups for both teams, but the results were the same.  Riding its momentum from the game one victory, the Lady Reds pounded out three more runs in the first inning to grab an early 3-0 lead.  Carthage put the game out of reach in the third on home runs by Vicki Pyan and Abby Hanson. 

Down 6-0 in the fourth, North Central showed some life by scoring two runs to cut the lead to 6-2.  With Kayla Antle on first, Walker blasted another RBI double, and Kiersten Tinkoff followed with a single to center field to score Walker. 

The Lady Reds added a final insurance run in the sixth on a safety squeeze that was executed by Jen Precht and scored Alyse Mikolas. 

Walker powered the offense with three doubles two RBI on the day, and Tinkoff managed two hits in the nightcap.  In the circle, Mangia suffered her first two losses of the season.    

North Central heads to conference rival Wheaton College on Thursday for a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m.