The Lake Forest College softball team defeated Lawrence University 19-3 in six innings before falling 4-2 to Carroll University on Saturday at the Midwest Conference Classic in East Peoria, Illinois. Sophomore center fielder Whitney Leiderman belted three of the Foresters' team record eight home runs against Lawrence.
Leiderman led off the game with her third round-tripper of the year and hit a pair of three-run homers in the sixth. She is just the second player in team history with three home runs in a game and the first to clear the fence twice in a single inning. Jill Pfund recorded the first three-homer game by a Forester at Illinois College on April 5, 2008. Leiderman's seven runs batted in were a career-high and matched the second-highest single-game total in team history.
Freshman Kaleigh Ambrose hit her third homer of the year with a runner on base in the third inning on Saturday and freshman pitcher Jessi Werner belted the first of her career in the second, giving the Foresters a 4-1 lead. Lawrence came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame but Werner held the Vikings scoreless the rest of the way. Werner is now 6-4 with a 2.84 earned run average overall this season and 4-0 with a 1.14 ERA in conference play.
Sophomore right fielder Kayla Borgra hit her first career homer in the top of the third inning and freshman designated player Alex Hemmer recorded her second of the year with a runner on base in the fourth. After going down in order in the fifth, the Foresters erupted for a dozen runs in the sixth, including four on a grand slam by freshman second baseman Vasi Panos. It was her first career homer. The 12-run inning was just one shy of the school record set in 1983 and the Foresters' previous single-game mark of five home runs was set at Knox College on April 26, 2011.
Lake Forest out-hit Lawrence 17-10. Leiderman accounted for a career-high four of the hits and Borgra had three, which matched her career-best. Leiderman, Borgra, Werner, and senior third baseman Aubrey Pendegraft each scored three times in the game.
Runs were much more difficult to come by against Carroll, which scored a run in the top of the first inning and added three more in the fourth.
Lake Forest finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth. Junior shortstop Sam Ritsema led off the frame with a base hit and freshman designated player Kristi Gandy drew a walk. After a double steal advanced the runners, a passed ball scored Ritsema and moved Gandy up the third. Werner singled her in but the next six Foresters were retired in order to secure the Pioneer victory.
It was Lake Forest's first loss in eight conference games this season and the team is now 12-10 overall. Lawrence fell to 11-8 overall and 1-2 in the league while Carroll raised its overall record to 8-16 and MWC mark to 4-0.
The annual MWC Classic will conclude on Sunday and the Foresters' only game of the day is a 10:00 a.m. match-up with Beloit College.
