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

Game one box score
Game two box score

April 25, 2017 – Making quick work of their competition in their second to last home series of the season, the North Central College softball team swept the North Park Vikings by scores of 8-0 and 12-3 in a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Shanower Family Field.

The Cardinals took care of business in game one, jumping all over Vikings starter Amara Leith. Taylor Clugston started the inning off with a single and would steal second a pitch later, then trading places with Anna Seffernick with an RBI double. After Seffernick advanced to third on a sacrifice fly, Jenna Trojniar would lay down a perfect bunt single to reach first. Sarah Esposito then stepped up to deliver a 190 foot fly ball, hitting the fence in the air to score Seffernick and bring Trojniar all the way around from first.

After a quiet second inning, the Cardinals used the long ball to put another three runs on the board. Seffernick continued her very impressive freshman year with a homer over the left field fence, her second of the season. After a Kehoe single, Samantha Phelps experienced one of the stranger at-bats as she was thought to have walked and struck out in the same appearance as the count could not be decided. She would us it her advantage and launch a ball over the center field fence to take a 6-0 lead.

North Central would tack on a run in the fourth and a final one in the fifth as Belletini snuck one through the left side, driving in the eighth run of the game and implementing the slaughter rule.

The Cardinals tallied ten hits to the Vikings three. Jennifer Yager (5-7) would throw a gem of a game for the win, allowing a three-hit shutout while walking just one.

Game two would start off not as easy for the Cardinals as they held a 4-3 lead through the third inning. An two-RBI triple from Belletini in the second and a two-RBI double from Sarah Esposito in the third would provide the early run support but the Vikings took one back in the second and two more in the third. North Central would bring two across in the fifth, one being a Brooke Kehoe solo shot to left center.

Up 6-3 going into the sixth the Cardinals bats erupted, putting up six runs on four hits and a Vikings error. CLugston would score on a wild pitch to start the scoring as Kehoe and Belletini each responded with RBI doubles, Kehoe driving in one and Belletini driving in three. Clugston would then bat around and drive in the sixth run of the innings, as the Cardinals shut down the Vikings the rest of the way.

Kehoe paced the Cardinals in game two with a 3-for-4 performance while Belletini finished with five RBI in the game.

Jessica Weaver improved to 9-6 with a two-earned run performance, striking out one and walking zero.

North Central (17-15, 7-5 CCIW) controls their own destiny the rest of the way, sitting fourth in the CCIW with just two conference series left. The Cardinals travel to Elmhurst College on Thursday, April 27 with game times at 3 and 5 pm.