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North Park University Athletics

CreagerPitching
Paige Wilcox
5
Carroll CARROLL 21-18, 17-14 CCIW
6
Winner North Park NPU 18-18, 12-18 CCIW
Carroll CARROLL
21-18, 17-14 CCIW
5
Final
6
North Park NPU
18-18, 12-18 CCIW
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Carroll CARROLL 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 14 1
North Park NPU 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 2 6 9 3

W: Malicki, Alyssa (9-11) L: Roberts (2-6)

7
Winner North Park NPU 19-18, 13-18 CCIW
0
Carroll CARROLL 21-19, 17-15 CCIW
Winner
North Park NPU
19-18, 13-18 CCIW
7
Final
0
Carroll CARROLL
21-19, 17-15 CCIW
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
North Park NPU 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 7 12 0
Carroll CARROLL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3

W: Creager, Katie (1-0) L: Roberts (2-7)

Game Recap: Softball | | Contact: Scot Gladstone, Sports Information GA, swgladstone@northpark.edu

May Day Magic: Vikings Sweep Carroll with a Masterclass from the Entire Roster

Aragon airs two balls over the fence, Creager cruises with one-hit shutout, and Manderfeld makes her mark as NPU’s all-time hits leader

Chicago, Ill. – It didn't matter if a player had one inning of collegiate softball under their belt, or 160 games worth of it, nearly everybody on the North Park softball roster contributed to a dramatic 6-5 (11 innings) win over Carroll University, followed by a 7-0 blowout to complete the sweep over the Pioneers.

Game 1

The Vikings threatened, but weren't able to get a run across in the first six innings of the first game. Those offensive struggles, mixed with some timely Carroll offense, put the Pioneers ahead 4-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. Ellie Manderfeld led off the inning with a bunt single that was the 169th hit of her career, equalizing her with Katie Anderson for the NPU all-time hits' record. Brigid Early followed that up with a walk, and Nicole Donnawell dropped a picture-perfect sac-bunt to get Early and Manderfeld in scoring position. Up next, Caitlyn Webb hit a grounder back to the Carroll pitcher who turned to freeze Manderfeld at third, before she was, in theory, planning on throwing out Webb at first. Manderfeld had different ideas, dancing around near third base and baiting the Pioneer pitcher into attempting to get her out instead of Webb. Manderfeld eventually slid back into third safely, while Webb reached on the fielder's choice to load the bases for Alyssa Aragon. After seeing a few pitches, Aragon rocketed a shot way over the left-center fence to tie the game at four.

The teams played a scoreless tug-of-war until the 11th, when the Pioneers got one run past Alyssa Malicki to take a 5-4 lead. Malicki used her bionic arm to throw all 11 innings for the Vikings, allowing three earned runs, and striking out nine. In the next half inning, the Vikings loaded the bases for Malicki, needed a run to extend the game. Malicki coaxed a full-count walk that scored Early to even the game again, this time at five each. That set the stage for the next batter, Racheal Feazelle, up with one out and the bases still loaded. Feazelle grounded a ball back to the pitcher who threw to the catcher covering home, to force out Donnawell running to the plate. Then, the Pioneer catcher threw to first to attempt to complete the 1-2-3 double play, but instead, the ball deflected off Feazelle running to first, was unable to be caught by the first baseman, and Aragon used some heads-up baserunning to score all the way from second and win the game in odd-but-exciting walk-off fashion by a score of 6-5.

Game 2

Katie Creager had pitched one inning of collegiate softball before she started game two for the Vikings on Saturday afternoon. The Viking freshman looked like a seasoned vet, though, as she one-hit the Pioneers in spectacular fashion to finish off the impressive sweep. Although she didn't strike out a Carroll batter, Creager finished with a WHIP of 0.29, a very impressive first collegiate start. Creager got help from the NPU bats as well, with Webb and Manderfeld each getting RBI singles in the top of the fifth to put North Park up 2-0. The single by Manderfeld was also hit number 170 on her collegiate career, giving her sole possession of first place in the NPU record books. Taking that 2-0 lead into the seventh, the Vikings would bat around to give Creager plenty of insurance to work with. Webb would score Donnawell on a single, followed by the second home run of the day by Aragon bringing home Webb and Manderfeld. After Malicki hit a stand-up triple later in the inning, Erin Penn was able to get her home with a base hit for a 7-0 NPU lead. Creager had three Pios up and sent three Pios down in the bottom of the seventh to clinch her first ever collegiate win.

Quick Hits:

  • Aragon went 6-9 on the day with a double, two homers, three runs scored, and seven RBIs.
  • Donnawell and Webb each had four hits and two runs scored. Webb also had two RBIs.
  • Malicki's final line from game one: 11.0 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 9 Ks.
  • Creager's final line in game two: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 Ks.

What's Next?

North Park finished the regular season with a record of 19-18 and 13-18 in the CCIW and will now set their sights on the CCIW tournament starting next week. Seeding and the schedule for that tourney is TBD.

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