ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst University softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to North Central College, falling 9-3 in game one and 15-7 in game two.
Elmhurst fell to 8-12 overall and 6-8 in the CCIW with the losses while North Central improved to 7-9 overall and 5-7 in league play.
NORTH CENTRAL 9, ELMHURST 3 (Game One) – North Central scored in each of the first four innings on route to a 9-3 victory in game one.
North Central capitalized on a leadoff error to push home three unearned runs. Dakota Novak knocked home two runs with a two-out single. Elmhurst cut the lead down to one in the bottom of the first. North Central retired the first two batters before
Alana Batista walked and then scored on a
Jackie Orel double. North Central walked the bases loaded and
Amaya Chavez drew a walk to force home a run and make the score 3-2.
North Central answered back with three runs on three hits in the second and tacked on two more runs in the third on a two-out, two-run single from Alex Sherlund to give the Cardinals an 8-2 lead. North Central took advantage of a bloop double and a pair of wild pitches to score a run in the fourth to make the score 9-2.
Elmhurst took a run back in the fourth after
Alyssa Filkowski belted her third solo homer in the last two games. Neither team scored a run over the final three innings as the Cardinals held on for the 9-3 win.
Veronica Zahn led the Bluejays at the plate with a pair of hits.
Briana Pisauro took the loss for the Bluejays. She went the distance, tossing all seven innings while allowing 12 hits and six earned runs. Samantha Gadomski picked up the win for North Central, entering in the bottom of the first and tossing 6.2 innings and allowing just six hits and one run. She walked two and fanned three.
NORTH CENTRAL 15, ELMHURST 8 (Game Two) – Elmhurst slipped to 6-8 in the CCIW after dropping the second game of the doubleheader 15-7 in five innings.
North Central jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first Talia Torosian doubled home a pair of runs and Dakota Novak added an RBI single for NCC.
Elmhurst sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run second inning. Jena Geraci singled home a run to start the scoring for Elmhurst. Pisauro followed with an RBI single and Elmhurst scored another run on the play on a North Central error to tie the score at 3-3. A sacrifice fly from Zahn gave the Bluejays a 4-3 lead. Filkowski continued to swing a red-hot bat, blasting a two-run homer to left field to give Elmhurst a 6-3.
Elmhurst's lead did not last as North Central sent nine batters to the plate and score five runs in the bottom of the second. The Cardinals took advantage of two Elmhurst errors in the inning to score three unearned runs. Katie Del Re triple home a run a Jamie Smith followed with an RBI double to pull the Cardinals to within a run. After North Central tied the contest, the Cardinals went in front on a two-run single from Elena Stevenson.
North Central blew the game open in the bottom of the fourth by scoring seven times. Del Re and Smith knocked in two runs apiece in the Cardinals' big inning. North Central sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning.
Elmhurst didn't go down quietly. The Bluejays loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth and scored a run on
Jamie Haas' RBI single to cut the Cardinals' lead down to eight. But North Central retired the next three batters to end the game with the eight-run victory.
Haas and Filkowski recorded two hits apiece for the Bluejays in the loss.
Karly Krown made the start and took the loss, working three innings and allowing nine hits and six earned runs. Gianna Corban earned the win in relief for the Cardinals, tossing 3.1 innings and allowing just four hits and one run.
Elmhurst hosts Carroll University in a doubleheader tomorrow (April 12) at 2:00 p.m.
