Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan junior centerfielder Keri Leach slugged a two-run homer in the first inning and sophomore lefthander Molly McCready pitched a four-hitter as the Titans downed Carthage, 2-1, to advance in the NCAA Division III Bloomington, Ill., Softball regional.

The Titans are 39-7 and will play Linfield (41-5) in a game at 2 p.m. at IWU Field. Carthage's season ended with a record of 37-10.

The 39 wins ties an Illinois Wesleyan school season record set in 2001, when the team was 39-14.

IWU scored their only runs in the first as junior shortstop Courtney Martin led off with a walk, stole second and went to third on a ground out by freshman leftfielder Audra James. Leach then delivered a two-run home run over the centerfield fence.

The Lady Reds got a run back in the bottom of the first when leftfielder Katie Morman led off by being hit by a pitch. She went to second on a sacrifice bunt by centerfielder Jen Precht. Third baseman Vicki Pyan walked to get runners on first and second and, after a strikeout, shortstop Abby Hanson singled through the left side to score Morman.

McCready (18-4), who broke the school's single season strikeout record earlier in the game, worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth.
McCready struck out seven and now has 203 strikeouts this season, topping the old school mark of 198 by Christy Engel in 2009.

Carthage's Krystina Leazer (28-7) was the losing pitcher as she struck out six and walked only one in tossing a four-hitter.