The Lake Forest College softball team hosted and defeated Monmouth College 7-5 and 5-3 in an important Midwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday. Forester junior shortstop Sam Ritsema had a pair of hits in each contest and threw out a runner at home to end game one.
The Foresters took a 7-1 lead into the seventh inning of the opener but Monmouth plated four runs and had the tying run at the plate with a runner on second base. That runner tried to score on a single that bounced off third base but Ritsema hustled to the line in short left field and her throw to the plate easily beat the aggressive baserunner for the final out of the game.
The visitors scored the first run of the game on a home run to lead off the top of the second inning. Lake Forest freshman pitcher Jessi Werner shut down the Fighting Scot offense until the seventh and struck out four batters in her seventh complete game of the season. She is 7-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play this season.
The Foresters took the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Senior first baseman Nikki Miller walked to lead off the frame and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore right fielder Kayla Borgra hit a line drive double off the left field fence and then scored on a double to right field by Ritsema.
Freshman second baseman Kaleigh Ambrose led off the bottom of the fourth inning with her fourth home run of the season. Lake Forest then loaded the bases with one out on a walk to senior third baseman Aubrey Pendegraft, a base hit to right field by Miller, and a swining bunt single by sophomore left fielder Alyssa Vechiola. Sophomore center fielder Whitney Leiderman drove in Pendegraft on a groundout to shortstop and Borgra lined a single to center to score Miller and Vechiola and put the Foresters ahead 6-1.
The home team plated one more run in the bottom of the fifth when a single by Werner scored Ambrose, who had doubled to start the inning.
Borgra, Ritsema, and Ambrose each had two of the Foresters' 10 base hits in the game.
Lake Forest grabbed a very early lead in game two when Borgra ledd off the bottom of the first with her second home run of the season and Ritsema followed with her second round-tripper of the year.
Vechiola scored from first base on a double to the fence in left-center field by Ritsema in the third, making the score 3-0.
After the Scots got on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the fifth inning, the Foresters increased their lead once again in the bottom of the frame on a two-run home run by freshman Alex Hemmer. It was her third homer of the season.
Monmouth scored a run in the sixth and another in the seventh and had the tying run at the plate when Forester freshman pitcher Kristi Gandy fielded a ground ball and threw out the runner at first for the final out of the game. Gandy struck out four batters and walked just one in a complete game victory that raised her record on the season to 4-2.
Ritsema had another two-hit game and finished the day 4-for-7 with two doubles, a home run, and three runs batted in.
The victories were the 126th and 127th of head coach Joe Kinsella's seven seasons at the College, making him the winningest coach in program history. He is now 127-109-1 overall at Lake Forest and 66-12 in MWC contests.
Lake Forest is now 14-11 overall on the year and 9-2 in conference play. Monmouth fell to 14-12 overall and 7-6 in the league.
The Foresters will host Illinois College Sunday afternoon at 1:00 and would clinch a berth in the four-team MWC Championship Tournament with a victory in either game of the doubleheader.
