CHICAGO -- Senior 2B Julia Schneider (Edgewater, N.J./ Dwight-Englewood) homered to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning to give the University of Chicago softball team a 2-1 win over North Central College Tuesday at Stagg Field.

Summary & Highlights

• Tuesday's scheduled second game was rained out.
  
  
• Chicago (24-9) scored its first run in the opening frame when senior 1B Liz Payonk (Palos Heights, Ill./ Stagg) drove in sophomore CF Kaitlyn Carpenter (Des Moines, Iowa/ East) with a fielder's choice. Carpenter reached on an error to lead off the inning, then stole second base.
  
  
• North Central tied the game in the fourth on C Colleen Drennan's run-scoring base hit.
  
  
• Schneider led off the bottom of the 11th inning with her first home run of the season over the center field fence.
  
  
• Junior P Kim Cygan (Lake Barrington, Ill./ Barrington) earned the win (14-4) with six scoreless innings in relief of senior P Sarah Neuhaus (Berkeley, Calif./ Berkeley), who left after five innings of work.
  
  
• Vlasta Mangia (16-14) went the distance for the Cardinals (21-18).

Notes

• Tuesday's game matched Chicago's longest since a 1-0, 11-inning win over Augustana College on May 7, 2004.
  
  
• Schneider's homer was her second walk-off hit of the season. She doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning in the Maroons' 10-9 victory over Bethel College on Mar. 21.
  
  
• Schneider's home run marked the second time in as many years that a Maroon senior homered in her final regular season at-bat. Sara Whaley accomplished the feat a year ago -- also against North Central.
  
  
• Chicago held its opponent to fewer than two runs for the eighth time in 11 home games.
  
  
• The Maroons finished the regular season with a five-game home winning streak.

Up Next

• Ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Region heading into Tuesday's game, Chicago remains in strong contention for a bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship. The NCAA will announce the tournament field Monday, May 7.