The Forester softball team posted a 4-1 victory over Benedictine University before falling 7-4 to Hope College on Saturday at the Dot Richardson Spring Games in Clermont, Florida. Lake Forest sophomore pitcher Jessi Werner struck out nine batters and allowed just four hits in the game one victory.
Werner, who fell just one strikeout shy of her career-high, held the Eagles hitless for the first five innings. Benedictine plated a run on four singles in the sixth and Werner retired the side in order in the seventh to improve to 4-3 with a 1.76 earned run average on the trip.
Forester junior centerfielder Whitney Leiderman led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and junior rightfielder Kayla Borgra followed with an RBI double.
Lake Forest scored its other three runs in the fourth. A single by freshman third baseman Sally Snarski, a walk, and an error loaded the bases with no outs and the first run came home when freshman leftfielder Audrey Dujkic drew another base on balls. A wild pitch plated the next run and a base hit by senior shortstop Sam Ritsema made the score 4-0.
Six different Foresters had a base hit in the game and Borgra's first-inning double was the only that went for extra bases.
Hope jumped out to the early lead in Lake Forest's second game of the day. The Flying Dutch scored one run in the bottom of the first inning and three more in the third.
The Foresters finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning when Snarski followed base hits by Borgra and Ritsema with her fifth home run of the week.
Hope extended its lead to 5-3 with a run in the bottom of the fourth and added two more tallies in the sixth.
Lake Forest freshman designated player Sam Rosenfeld singled to lead off the top of the seventh and Leiderman followed with a double. Rosenfeld eventually came home on a passed ball but no other Forester was able to reach base in the inning.
The Foresters finished their Spring Break trip with a 6-4 record. Freshman first baseman Tara Airola led the team with a .464 batting average and four stolen bases on the week while Snarski posted team-highs with five home runs and 14 runs batted in. Werner and freshman Jenny McTague combined for 55 strikeouts and a 1.83 ERA.
The first game of the day was the season opener for Benedictine and Hope was defeated in its first game of the year before playing the Foresters.
Lake Forest's doubleheader at Carthage College on Monday and home opener against Greenville College on Tuesday have already been postponed due to weather and field conditions. The Foresters' next scheduled doubleheader will be Midwest Conference South Division match-up at Illinois College on Saturday, March 29. Lake Forest will also play at Monmouth College the following afternoon. Both twinbills will begin at 1:00 p.m.
