2007 CCIW Softball Tournament Preview

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Four College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) teams will travel to Bloomington, Ill., this weekend for the CCIW Softball Tournament as each team looks to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In game one, No. 3 seed North Central (27-13, 8-6 in the CCIW) will face No. 2 seed and defending tournament champion Augustana (27-12, 11-3) at noon on Friday, May 4. 2007 conference champion and tournament host Illinois Wesleyan (28-10, 13-1), the No. 1 seed, will face No. 4 seed Carthage (20-16, 6-8) following the first game at 2 p.m. The third game will feature the losers of the first two games at 4 p.m., while the fourth and final game of the afternoon will feature the winners of the first two games at 6 p.m. The tournament wraps up on Saturday, May 5 with games at noon and 2 p.m.

Illinois Wesleyan led all eight conference teams in batting and pitching this season with a team batting average of .359 and a team ERA of 1.81. The Titans’ Molly Coers finished second in the conference with a batting average of .444 in 14 conference games this season. Valerie Hackett was fifth with a .421 average in 38 at bats. Carthage’s Allie Benthusen was fourth in the conference with a 1.39 ERA. Carthage’s Terri Piekosz led the team with 124 at-bats this season, hitting for an average of .403.

Illinois Wesleyan swept Carthage in its double header on April 21. The winning scores were 5-0 and 4-2. Pitcher Lauren Hyland went the distance in the first game, giving up only two hits over seven innings against the Lady Reds.

Augustana got power numbers from two hitters throughout the conference portion of the season. Lorena Cernetisch won the batting title with an average of .500, while Samantha Knox was third in the conference with an average of .444. Augustana’s Sara Brokaw earned the ERA title with an average of 0.70. North Central freshman Jenna Prieto was fifth in ERA with a 1.47 average.

Augustana solidified its No. 2 seed with a double-header sweep of North Central on April 28 (2-0, 2-1). Augustana’s Jordan Huff and North Central’s Lori Potacki went the distance as Huff gave up only two hits while striking out five in the first game. In the second game, Augustana’s Kim Rymer was two-for-four with a run scored in the 2-1 Viking victory.