The Lake Forest College softball team started the season by falling 7-6 in eight innings to Webster University and 6-5 to Trine University at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Florida, on Sunday. Junior catcher Danielle Gore belted three doubles and drove in a pair of runs on the day.
A four-run second inning gave the Foresters an early lead in the opener. Sophomore third baseman Aubrey Pendegraft started the rally with a triple and scored when the throw to the infield was mishandled. Sophomore pitcher Kelly Chesnut, junior outfielder Leslie Harshey, and freshman outfielder Clare Kavanagh singled and sophomore shortstop Megan Harkins reached on an error in the inning.
After Webster got on the scoreboard with three run in the top of the fourth, Lake Forest plated two in the bottom of the frame. With one out, freshman second baseman Sam Ritsema singled and stole second base. Sophomore outfielder Mary Glowacz drew a walk and the two executed a successful double steal, with Ritsema scoring on an errant throw by the catcher. Glowacz also stole third base and came home on a base hit by Harkins.
Webster scored one run in the fifth inning and two in the sevent to tie the score. The Gorlocks also brought home a run in the top of the eighth inning and the Foresters were unable to match that run in the bottom half of the extra frame.
Lake Forest stole seven bases in the contest, the team's highest single-game total since April of 2007. Seven different Foresters had one hit while Webster tallied nine.
In Lake Forest's second game of the day, Trine took advantage of three walks to score twice in the bottom of the first inning.
The Foresters got one run back in the top of the second, thanks to base hits by sophomore first baseman Nikki Miller and Pendegraft and an RBI-single by Harshey.
Both teams scored once in the fifth inning. Lake Forest's run was scored by freshman outfielder Mindy Runge, who tripled and came home on a double by Gore.
Ritsema's belted her first career home run with Harshey on base to give the Foresters the lead in the top of the sixth. Gore doubled in another run in the inning to make the score 5-3.
Trine, however, scored once in the bottom of the sixth and twice on an outfield error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to claim the victory.
Runge and Gore each had two of the Foresters' eight base hits in the game. Trine also had eight hits off sophomore pitcher Molly Thomsen, who recorded a career-high six strikeouts in the contest.
Webster is now 8-2 and Trine 2-0 on the season. Lake Forest will take on Mount Union College tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. (EST) and Aurora University at 6:30 (EST).
