The Forester softball team was defeated 3-2 and 8-3 at North Central College, the 25th-ranked team in the nation, on Thursday. Sophomore right fielder Kayla Borgra had a pair of base hits in each game and leads Lake Forest with a .423 batting average this season.
Borgra and junior shortstop Sam Ritsema had back-to-back one-out singles in the first inning of the doubleheader. The throw from the outfield on Ritsema's base hit was wild, scoring Borgra with what turned out to be the visitors' only run of the contest. Borgra and Ritsema were each 2-for-3 in the game, accounting for all four of the Foresters' hits.
North Central scored its only two runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth. A leadoff single and a two-base error on the ensuing bunt attempt put runners on second and third with no outs. A strikeout and a popup had Forester freshman pitcher Jessi Werner just one out away from escaping the jam but a triple plated both runners and Lake Forest was unable to come back.
Werner struck out nine batters and did not issue a walk in six innings of work. She improved her earned run average on the season to 2.64.
Lake Forest also scored first in game two. Freshman second baseman Vasi Panos led off the top of the second inning with a base hit and a two-base error on freshman catcher Maddie Dieleman's sacrifice bunt attempt put runners on second and third. Freshman pitcher Tori Liewergen then singled up the middle and advanced to second on the throw home. Both runners scored on the play. Two batters later, a single to left center field by senior Nikki Miller brought home Liewergen.
The Cardinals responded with a run in the bottom of the second, four in the third, and three more in the fourth. Three Forester errors aided the rallies and made three of the eight runs unearned.
Borgra and Miller each had two of the visitors' seven base hits in the game.
Lake Forest fell to 15-14 on the season while North Central raised its record to 30-4.
The Foresters will resume Midwest Conference play Saturday at Grinnell College. Lake Forest's final home games of the season will be played on Sunday against Carthage College, the 21st-ranked team in the country. Both doubleheaders will begin at 1:00 p.m.
