Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Apr. 20, 2022 - The North Central College softball team split its doubleheader with local foe, Benedictine University on Wednesday night as the Cardinals fell 2-5 in game one but rallied for a 9-6 victory in game two at Shanower Family Field.

With two scoreless innings to start game one, Katie Del Re hit a double in the bottom of the third before advancing to third on Sarah Lynch's single that forced an Eagle outfielder to bobble. With two runners in scoring position and clutch hitting Breanna Adams up to bat, a single to left field scored Del Re and Lynch to put the Cardinals up 2-0 heading into the fourth.

The Eagles wasted no time getting on the board in the fourth, as Alyssa Gill scored on a ground out to narrow the score at 1-2. A long fifth inning proved detrimental for the Cardinals as Asia Robinette hit a single that scored two runs early in the inning, and a walk with bases loaded secured the 4-2 lead for the Eagles. The Eagles saw their final run of game one in the sixth inning as Gill hit an RBI-single to bring the score to its final tally of 5-2.

Adams was key in the Cardinals lineup in game one posting two RBI's on one hit while Lynch led with two of the team's nine hits and had the Cardinals only stolen base in game one. Gianna Corban dropped her win-loss record to 10-2 after pitching five innings totaling seven strikeouts and allowing nine hits before Adams came in to pitch the last 1.2 innings striking out two and allowing one hit.

Keeping their momentum from game one, the Eagles scored three runs on four hits in the first inning of game two but that did little to halt the Cardinals. A two-run homer from Jaime Smith put the Cardinals back in it at 2-3, while Adams followed it up with a double to prompt an early Eagles pitching change. Andrea Richards took advantage of an adjusting new pitcher to hit an RBI-double to bring the score back to even, 3-3.

With two runners on in the third, Talia Torosian singled to left field to score Adams to take the 4-3 lead over the Eagles. Two batters later, Alexa Sherlund hit a two-run single to center field to extend that lead to 6-3. Benedictine gained one more run in the fifth inning bringing the score to 6-4.

The bottom of the fifth saw the Cardinals with two runners in scoring position as Allison Lambert stepped up to the plate clinching a two-run double to further the Cardinal lead, 8-4. With two outs in the sixth inning and two runners on, Torosian hit a hard single to the shortstop allowing Alyssa Sturino to score putting the Cardinals up 9-4. Looking for the rally, Benedictine hit back-to-back doubles to to score two and prompting a Cardinals pitching change. The Cardinals turned in three routine plays to finish out game two 9-6.

Smith, Torosian, and Lambert each tallied a pair of RBIs on two hits each while Sherlund also had two RBIs on one hit, and Richards had one RBI and three hits. Del Re had the Cardinals only stolen base bringing her season total to five. Adams pitched six innings totaling four strikeouts and 12 hits to bring her win-loss record to 7-3. Corban was credited with her third save on the season. 

The Cardinals host their third-consecutive doubleheader on Thursday for a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) match-up with Elmhurst University. Game one at Shanower Family Field is set for 3:00 p.m.

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