The Forester softball team had its eight-game winning streak
snapped by North Central College, the nation's 16th-ranked team,
Tuesday afternoon (April 27). The Cardinals won the opener of the
doubleheader 6-1 and game two 9-4 to raise their record on the
season to 28-8. Lake Forest fell to 22-12-1.
North Central scored a piar of runs in each of the first two
innings of game one to take a 4-0 lead.
The Foresters' lone run of the contest came in the bottom of the
fourth inning. Sophomore outfielder/catcher Danielle Gore
(Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) led off the frame with a single
through the left side of the infield. After a fielder's choice and
a walk, freshman designated player Nikki Miller (Starkville,
Miss./Starkville Academy) drove in the run with her second of three
singles in the game.
The home team brought the tying run to the plate in the fifth
inning but was unable to score. North Central tacked on a pair of
insurance runs in the seventh to account for the final score.
Lake Forest had seven hits and drew three walks in the contest but
left eight runners on base.
The Cardinals also took the early lead in game two, plating one in
the top of the first inning and another in the third.
The Foresters tied the game in the bottom of the third. A North
Central error followed by a double by senior outfielder Sam Pinsonneault (Manchester, N.H./New Hampton) put runners on second
and third with no outs. Freshman second baseman Megan Harkins
(Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) executed a suicide squeeze to
score the first run and send Pinsonneault to third. Gore then
doubled to right center to tie the game.
North Central regained the lead with four runs in the top of the
fourth inning.
Lake Forest scored one in the fifth inning when Gore singled with
one out and advanced to second on a groundout. Senior third baseman
Mallory Norton (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection) then drove her in with
a base hit to center field.
Once again the Foresters were able to bring the tying run to the
plate late in the game, this time in the sixth, but could not get
any runs home in the inning. The visitors scored three runs in the
top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.
The final run of the game was scored on Norton's team-high seventh
home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning. The
round-tripper gave her a school record 279 career total bases, one
more than the mark set by Christy Condon in 2008. Another school
record fell earlier in the game when senior first baseman Shelby Neill (Manitou Beach, Mich./Lenawee Christian) surpassed the mark
for career putouts set by Shanon Joselane seven years ago. Neill
had 10 putouts in the doubleheader opener and 14 more in game two.
She now has 887 in her career, seven more than Joselane.
Gore, Norton, and freshman outfielder/second baseman Aubrey Pendegraft (Creston, Iowa/Creston) each had two of the Foresters'
eight base hits in game two.
Lake Forest will host the 2010 Midwest Conference Championship
Tournament next weekend (May 7-8). The double-elimination event
will begin at 10:00 each morning. The Foresters will take on Ripon
College in round one at noon on Friday.
