The Lake Forest College softball team hosted and defeated Illinois College 10-2 on Saturday. Game two of the scheduled doubleheader was postponed due to weather. Forester junior Danielle Gore was 3-for-3 and drove in five runs in the contest.
Gore singled in the home team's first run of the day with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, tying the game at one. Junior Leslie Harshey led off the frame with a base hit, sophomore Nikki Miller followed with another single The runners advanced to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Mindy Runge and Harshey scored on Gore's hit up the middle.
The Lady Blues regained the lead with a run in the top of the third inning but left the bases loaded.
The score remained 2-1 in favor of Illinois College until the bottom of the fourth inning. Runge led off with a walk and scored on a double by freshman Sammie Zender. Gore then belted her second home run of the season, putting the Foresters ahead 4-2. Singles by freshmen Sam Ritsema and Clare Kavanagh were followed by doubles by sophomore Ashley Cuthbert and Aubrey Pendegraft, making the score 7-2. After the first out of the inning, Miller reached on a fielder's choice that did not result in an out and an error on a ground ball by Runge loaded the bases. Zender drove in her second run of the inning on a groundout to first and Gore plated two more on a base hit to right field.
Lake Forest sophomore Kelly Chesnut, who entered the game in the top of the fourth, blanked the Lady Blues in the fifth to secure the eight-run victory. She struck out five batters in two scoreless innings and sophomore Molly Thomsen, the starter, struck out four in three innings of work. Their combined nine strikeouts match the team's season-high set last Saturday against Lawrence University.
The Foresters are now 9-15 overall and 4-2 in Midwest Conference play. Illinois College fell to 10-16 overall and 3-7 in the league. The schools have yet to decide if and when the second game will be played.
Lake Forest will host Monmouth College at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. The Foresters will be collecting donations for the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, an organization that matches children with pediatric brain tumors with local college and high school sports teams.
