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Contact: Tyler Friel, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Game one box score
Game two box score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (May 2, 2016) – Concluding game two of their doubleheader the following day due to poor weather conditions, the North Central College softball team finished their regular season with a split against College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) opponent Augustana College, falling in game one 3-2 but taking game two 6-4.

The Cardinals jumped out to a very early lead in game one, as Jenna Trojniar hit her second homerun of the season after Samantha Anderson reached on an error, allowing North Central to take a 2-0 lead. Augustana got one back in the third and tied the game in the fifth on a RBI-single. The Cardinals bats could not seem to put anything together the rest of the game while a lead-off homer by Augustana's Zayne Blumberg in the sixth gave the hosts the first lead of the game. That would prove to be enough as the Vikings took game one 3-2.

After rain postponed game two to the following day, North Central took an early lead again as Trojniar started things off with a RBI-groundout to score Taylor Clugston after she led off with a single to right. Augustana (16-22, 6-8) scored three runs in the third thanks to four hits in the inning. The Cardinals fought back in the bottom half of the inning as Anderson singled followed by Clugston reaching on an error by the Vikings second baseman. Andrea Starr would help herself out with a RBI double to center field, bringing up Trojniar. Trojniar singled down the left field line to score Clugston, recording her second RBI of the game.

North Central (18-16, 8-6) scored two more in the fourth as RBI-singles by Clugston and Starr scored Brooke Kehoe and Anderson to extend the lead 5-3. The Cardinals scored another in the fifth as Kehoe singled down the right field line to score Amanda Walker. North Central carried a 6-3 lead into the seventh but the Vikings were able to bring one more across before the Cardinals shut down the inning, taking the victory 6-4.

Starr recorded a loss in game one while winning game two, finishing the regular season with an 11-11 record. Throwing six innings in game one, she allowed three runs on six hits while striking out one and walking one. In game two, she allowed four runs on nine hits but struck out four and walked none.

Trojniar finished the two games 2-for-7 from the plate but contributed four RBI. Starr finished the two games 3-for-7 while recording two RBI. Kehoe stepped up to deliver a 3-for-6 performance with one RBI while Clugston had an exceptional game two going 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs.

With the game two win, the Cardinals clinch a spot to the CCIW tournament, finishing third in conference play. Illinois Wesleyan University claimed this season's conference title with Wheaton College finishing second, and Carthage College finished fourth. The Cardinals split with both Carthage and Illinois Wesleyan but were swept by Wheaton this season.

North Central will travel to Bloomington, Ill. and will play Wheaton College on Friday, May 6, with time still to be announced.