Foresters Prevail 7-4 at Wheaton...Twice

Photo by Cheryl Brazil
Photo by Cheryl Brazil

The Lake Forest College softball team swept a doubleheader at Wheaton College on Saturday, winning 7-4 in both games. Forester freshman leftfielder Sydney Gardner tied a team record with two triples in game two and added her first career home run.

Gardner is just the third player in team history to triple twice in a contest and the sixth to tally at least 10 total bases in a game. She was stranded after a two-out triple in the second inning, drove in a run with a triple in the fourth, and plated a pair on her home run to left field in the sixth.

Junior first baseman Sally Snarski drove in the Foresters' first four runs of the contest, two on a base hit in the opening inning and two more in the third on her third home run of the season. Snarski is now tied for seventh in team history with 14 career homers.

Senior rightfielder Kayla Borgra and freshman shortstop Kat Beall also had two hits in the game.

Wheaton scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Lake Forest lead to 5-3. Another Thunder tally in the bottom of the seventh accounted for the final score.

Lake Forest junior pitcher Jesse Werner allowed three earned runs in the complete game victory, improving her record on the year to 6-1. She struck out five batters, walked four, and scattered 10 base hits.

Werner also struck out three and walked two in the final inning of the opener to earn her second save of the year. Sophomore Jenny McTague gave up three earned runs and just five base hits in the first six innings to earn the win. She is now 5-2 on the season.

The Foresters trailed 4-0 and still did not have a base hit after five innings. McTague singled to lead off the sixth inning and senior leftfielder Audrey Djukic followed with another single. Freshman pinch runner Callie Schaser advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Borgra. Djukic then came home on an error by the Wheaton shortstop.

Lake Forest still faced a 4-2 deficit with the bases empty and two outs in the seventh inning. A single by freshman designated player Jillian Rashid ad a walk to McTague put the tying run on base. Djukic then doubles in a pair of runs to tie the game and a base hit by Borgra plated two more runs and gave the Foresters the lead. A triple by junior catcher Alex Hemmer brought home Borgra with the final run of the contest.

The Foresters are now 11-3 and Wheaton 6-7 on the year.

Lake Forest will begin Midwest Conference play against visiting Illinois College next Saturday. The home-opening doubleheader will begin at 1:00 p.m.