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

Press Conference

ANGOLA, Ind. (May. 13, 2022) - Dominating in their first game of the NCAA Tournament, the North Central College softball team shutout Penn State - Behrend 5-0 while Gianna Corban surpassed the all-time record for career strikeouts.

Although both teams struggled to get the ball in play and put runners in scoring position in early innings, the Cardinals made their move in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Sarah Lynch hitting a triple down the left field line. Jaime Smith followed it up with a single in the same spot to bring Lynch in and put the Cardinals in a 1-0 lead.

The fifth inning brought the greatest impact for the North Central offense, With a pair of Cardinals being hit by pitches in addition to two walks, North Central found the score at 2-0 with bases loaded and only one out. Lynch stayed hot in the fifth inning with a two-run double to score Alexa Sherlund and  Ally Sporleder to put North Central up 4-0. Breanna Adams singled to the pitcher to bring Katie Del Re to the plate, giving the Cardinals a 5-0 lead.

Lynch owned two of the Cardinals four hits with two RBIs of her own while Del Re, Adams, and Smith each tallied RBIs for today's game.

Corban entered the circle in the second inning and proceeded to shut down the Lions offense as she secured her 17th win on the season while totaling nine strikeouts to break a nearly 40-year-old program record in career strikeouts. Corban's 427 strikeouts surpassed Dawn Shabacker's 420 from 1981-83 and she now owns both the career and single-season strikeout records.

North Central will face No. 20 and host school, Trine University tomorrow at 12 p.m. (ET) in Angola, Ind. at the SportONE/Parkview Softball Field.

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