GAME ONE
GAME TWO

LISLE, Ill. - The Benedictine University softball team concluded the non-conference portion of the schedule by trading wins with North Central College in a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at the Sports Complex. The Eagles won the opener 7-3 and North Central escaped the second game with a 7-6 victory.

BENEDICTINE 7, NORTH CENTRAL 3 -- Game One
The Eagles scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to build a 5-0 lead they would not relinquish in winning the opening contest.

Erin Galloway (Dwight, Ill.) ignited the second inning fury with a one-out single. Lisa Rybak (Midlothian, Ill.) and Brittany Adcox (Plainfield, Ill.) followed with singles to load the bases. Jess Fijolek (Wheaton, Ill.) drove in the first run with a fielder's choice as Galloway beat the throw to the plate. Aimee Mahoney (Gardner, Ill.) coaxed a bases loaded walk to force in the second run. Laura Christensen (Orland Park, Ill.) cleared the bases with a triple to the wall in right.

Benedictine kicked in a pair of insurance runs in the fifth. Christensen led off with a single and Brittany Wolski (Orland Park, Ill.) answered with a single of her own. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice. Cassie Cappetto (Oak Lawn, Ill.) drove in a run with a groundout and Erin Galloway singled home the other to push the lead to 7-0.

Brittany Adcox carried a shutout into the seventh inning in the circle. North Central took advantage of a pair of errors to scrape across three unearned runs to account for the final score. Adcox earned her fifth win of the season by scattering five hits and striking out seven.

Laura Christensen and Erin Galloway each had a pair of hits in the contest as Benedictine totaled eight in the game. Galloway drove in three runs.

NORTH CENTRAL 7, BENEDICTINE 6 -- Game Two
Benedictine rallied from a 4-0 deficit and had the tying run in scoring position in the seventh, but fell short in a 7-6 defeat.

North Central opened the scoring in the third inning as Erin Drennan connected on her first homer of the season, clearing the wall in left off of Benedictine starter Kaitlin Walsh (Schaumburg, Ill.). The Cardinals pushed across three more in the third, two of which scored on a single by Mary Caron.

The Eagles equaled the contest in the fifth inning. Lisa Rybak singled with the bases load to bring in a pair while the third run crossed when the left fielder over ran the ball. A Sam Corban (Plainfield, Ill.) double to center knotted the game at 4-4. 

The Cardinals scored three runs in the top of the seventh against three different Benedictine hurlers to grab a 7-4 edge. Katie Pappa led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by Laura Whitfield to put the guests in front. 

Benedictine had the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the frame, but couldn't drive in the tying score. Sam Corban singled with two outs and runners at second and third to drive in two and advanced to second on the throw to the plate. 

Each team slugged 10 hits with Sam Corban leading the Eagles with a 3-for-3 showing. She drove in three runs. Lisa Rybak finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Laura Christensen posted two hits out of the leadoff slot. Christensen is currently riding a season best five-game hitting streak.

Benedictine (9-4) opens play in the Northern Athletics Conference on Friday at 12:00 p.m. in a doubleheader against Wisconsin Lutheran College.

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