Contact: Ashleigh Jones, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
Game one Box Score
Game two Box Score
NAPLES, Fla. (March 16, 2018)- In their second day of the Gene Cusic Classic the North Central College softball team took to the field with confidence. Starting the day with a 3-1 win over Nazareth College the Cardinals were ready and on fire in their second game of the day against Southern Vermont College, winning, 17- 5, in just five innings.
Rachele Belletini played a significant role in beating the Golden Flyers both offensively and defensively. Belletini not only had a hand in all three runs scored by the Cardinals but also stopped two critical advances while playing at second base.
Belletini recorded an RBI in the second that allowed Samantha Phelps to score which was later overshadowed by her first homerun of the season, leading herself and Alexandra Martin to score, pushing the Cardinals to a 3 -0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
At the top of the sixth Nazareth attempted to make a comeback following a couple of North Central errors and a single to left field cutting the Cardinals lead to 3-1. Thanks to the aggressive pitching of Jessica Weaver and defensive communication amongst the infielders North Central closed out the game efficiently.
Utilizing the momentum of a close game the Cardinals took the field ready to win its fourth game of the Classic against Southern Vermont. That energy led to back to back innings with five runs apiece to take a commanding lead.
Emily Miller, Jenna Trojniar and Taylor Clugston tied in leading the team in runs with three each, while the remaining eight runs were split between five other teammates. Along with leading the team in runs Trojniar reached a career milestone of 100 career hits.
Belletini earned her second homerun of the season knocking in Reagan Raymer at the end of the second putting the Cardinals up, 10-0.
Pitching well, freshman Samantha Gadomski only needed five innings to record her first win of the season. With the assistance of seven more runs earned in the fourth North Central looked ready to put this game away.
Despite their substantial lead, however, the Cardinals lost their footing at the top of the fifth and committed significant errors that led Southern Vermont to earn five runs. Fortunately, North Central stifled Southern Vermont soon after ending the game with the dominating score of 17-5.
With an undefeated record so far in the Classic, Jim Kulawiak has earned his 800th career win as head coach of the North Central College softball team. Kulawiak has been the head coach of the Cardinals softball team for 30 years with an overall record of 800-361-3. Under his guidance, the Cardinals have seven College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championships and have earned seven CCIW Tournament Championships.
The Cardinals look to continue to dominate the field on Saturday when they play Castleton University at 9 AM (ET) and at 11 AM (ET) against Knox College.
