WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University softball team picked up one more win but one more loss in the CCIW standings on Saturday while hosting the North Park Vikings.
GAME 1
The Pioneers (9-12, 2-3 CCIW) played small ball all afternoon with the Vikings and used it to their advantage to take a 4-2 win in game one.
Riley Pavelka went the whole game for the Pio pitching staff.
Pavelka picked up win number two of the season after a seven-inning outing surrendering just six hits, two earned runs, and struck out six in the process.
Kiana Johnson went 3-3 with three RBI while
Sydney Raddeman recorded two hits, three runs, and three stolen bases. Carroll tallied nine hits in the outing but left seven runners on base.
Carroll struck first in the bottom of the first inning after Raddeman reached base safely due to a fielding error. Raddeman stole her first base of the day and was sent in by Johnson's single to center. The duo of Raddeman and Johnson tacked on one more in the bottom of the third to give Carroll a 2-0 cushion.
Antoinette Napoli led off the bottom of the fourth after North Park cut Carroll's lead to one in the top half of the inning. Napoli singled after a six-pitch at-bat and moved to second on a wild pitch.
Abby Curtis sent Napoli back to the dugout with an RBI single to center.
The Vikings led off the top of the fifth with a no-doubter home run to center field, but Johnson and Raddeman added one more run to keep Carroll's lead to two runs for the remainder of the game.
GAME 2
The Pioneers (9-13, 2-4 CCIW) and Vikings were working quickly through both lineups, but North Park gained ahold of the lead in the bottom of the sixth and took out Carroll, 0-3 in game two at Kilgour Field.
Grace Bradley took the loss with no earned runs to her credit.
Bradley fanned five and allowed just four hits in the six innings she pitched, throwing only 73 pitches. The Pios surrendered two errors in the sixth inning to give NPU the opportunity to take the lead. Carroll only had four hits from four different batters, but only one strikeout all game.
Bridget Rath hit the lone extra-base hit, with a double to deep center field.
Both teams were deadlocked with each other, giving up one lone hit per inning in most instances. The bottom of the sixth started with a routine ground ball play that ended up as an error for the Pioneers. After two SAC bunts, North Park scored on a squeeze play to break the scoreless game. The Vikings plated two more runs after an RBI single and an error by the Pios in the field.
Carroll had just three outs to get on the board. Rath's double in the second at-bat provided a spark, but Carroll left two runners stranded to end the game with no runs.
Carroll will host Wheaton College on Tuesday, April 11 at 3/5 PM at Kilgour Field in Waukesha.
