Contact: Sam Fretto, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (April 29, 2026)- Concluding the regular season on the road, the North Central College softball team split a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) doubleheader with the Augustana College Vikings at Carver Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals fell to the Vikings in game one, 3-2, but bounced back in game two with a 4-0 shutout.
The offenses between the two teams took a while to get going, combining for just one hit in the first two innings of the game. Starting pitcher Sam Schilf kept the potent Vikings offense off the board with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first and worked around a leadoff walk in the second inning. Gracie Vlach singled in the third but was left on the bases. Schilf answered with three groundouts. After a quiet top of the fourth, the Vikings scored the first runs of the contest, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the frame. Two singles by Augustana put runners on first and second with no one out. A one-out ground ball moved the runners to second and third with two outs in the inning. A bunt laid down by the Vikings left the ball in a spot for no play, allowing the runner to score. The Vikings tacked on a second run with a single and RBI double to right center to take a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning.
A two-run top of the sixth inning put together by North Central tied the game 2-2. The rally started with a Vlach single to start up the dormant Cardinals' offense. Lauren Bowmar drew a full-count walk, and Reese Johnson loaded the bases with a single to center. The first Cardinals run to come across came via a hit by pitch, as Carley Creeth was plunked. Nicole Stone tied the game up with an RBI groundout. Augustana responded with two singles and a groundout to advance the runners to second and third. With two outs, a single through the middle of the infield scored the runner from third to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead, but the runner from second was cut down trying to score after a throw from Gwen Shouse to Creeth at home. The Cardinals managed a two-out walk in the seventh but couldn't come back.
Vlach had a two-hit game, accounting for half of the team's hits. Schilf pitched six innings, giving up three runs and striking out three in the loss.
In game two, the Cardinals took the lead in the first inning and never looked back with the 4-0 shutout win. Shouse led the game off with a four-pitch walk and moved around the bases all herself, with two ground balls moving her to third and a wild pitch scoring her to take a 1-0 lead. North Central added another run in the second inning on a wild pitch offense. Creeth singled and Charlotte Toosley walked to put a runner in scoring position. A groundout moved the runners up a base, and Creeth scored on a wild pitch to take a 2-0 lead. Neither offense could find home plate again until the sixth inning when the Cardinals loaded the bases up with singles from Bowmar and Herder and a walk in Creeth's plate appearance. A clutch two-out piece of hitting by Sydney Nienhouse gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead with a two-RBI single to right field.
Juliana Maude kept the Vikings' offense quiet the entire game, tossing seven scoreless and striking out five batters, letting up just six hits and one walk. Maude's win puts her at eight on the season. Nienhouse delivered the two RBIs for the Cardinals, helping them pick up the win in Rock Island.
North Central (18-16, 8-8 CCIW) concludes the regular season, currently sitting in fourth place in the CCIW with seeding still to be determined. The top six teams will make it to the CCIW Tournament hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University from May 7-9.
