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

May. 6, 2022 - As the rain continues to haunt the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament, the North Central College softball program dominated in a 10-0 win against Carthage College before falling to Millikin University 3-5 in their second game of the day.

Katie Del Re started the Cardinals off strong in the first inning of game one with a double to centerfield. A sacrifice bunt by Sarah Lynch followed by a sacrifice fly by Breanna Adams gave North Central the 1-0 advantage.

Carthage had their closest opportunity to score in the second inning tallying two hits and a walked batter to have bases loaded before Del Re and Jaime Smith connected on a ground ball and forced the out at home.

North Central took advantage of a struggling Carthage defense finding a scoring run in the sixth, bringing in nine runs on five hits. A unique scenario saw Del Re as the first and last batter in the box in the inning. Leading off, Del Re reached on an error and eventually scored as her teammates continued the rally. Lynch, Adams, Allison Lambert, and Alexa Sherlund all hit singles to put the Cardinals up 7-0. With two runners on and Del Re back in the box, a walk-off three-run home run to left center gave North Central the first win of the CCIW Tournament, 10-0.

Del Re lead the team with three RBIs and two hits while Adams and Sherlund each had two RBIs. A. Lambert and Andrea Richards also recorded RBIs. Gianna Corban (14-3) pitched all six innings tallying six strikeouts and allowing only four hits. 

North Central's next feat came later Friday evening as they went head-to-head with the Millikin University Big Blue who were out to redeem themselves after the Cardinals swept them in a doubleheader earlier this season. 

The Cardinals found themselves down early on as a third-inning home run by Millikin's KJ Davidson put the Big Blue up 2-0. Millikin picked up another run in the fourth inning off two hits bringing the score to 3-0. 

With two outs in the fifth inning, Sherlund drilled a single down the left line followed by a single up the middle from Del Re. Lynch hit a clutch triple to right field to score Sherlund and Del Re and ultimately, she herself scored on a throwing error to even the score at 3-3. 

Two more Millikin hits in the fifth inning put the Big Blue up 5-3 giving them the cushion they needed to finish out the game.

North Central totaled six hits against Millikin's seven. Lynch had the Cardinals two RBIs while Sturino led the team with two hits. Pitching five innings, Corban (14-4) was credited with the loss totaling five strikeouts to earn her the program record for strikeouts in a single season (176). Adams pitched the final inning of game two securing one strikeout and allowing no hits.

North Central picked up their first loss in the double-elimination tournament and will play the winner of the Carthage vs. Carroll game (10 a.m.) Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at Workman Family Field in Decatur, Ill. 

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