Senior first baseman Sally Snarski belted a first-inning home run in each game and reached base safely on all six of her plate appearances on the day as the Lake Forest College softball team swept a doubleheader against visiting Ripon College on Wednesday. The Foresters took the opener 11-3 in six innings and game two 9-1 in five.
After Ripon plated two runs in the top of the first inning in game one but a three-run homer by Snarski in the bottom of the frame put Lake Forest on top for good.
Senior pitcher Jessi Werner, the Foresters' career leader in strikeouts, reached strike three on two batters in each of the first two innings and recorded the 500th punchout of her career to start the third.
The home team scored three more runs in the bottom of the third. Senior catcher Alex Hemmer, who has three hits in the game and five on the day, started the inning with a single and senior third baseman Kaleigh Ambrose drew a walk. Snarski doubled down the right field line to score Hemmer and the other two runs came home on a two-out single to right by sophomore designated player Desiree Velazquez.
The Redhawks scored an unearned run in the top of the fifth but the Foresters added two to their tally in the bottom of the inning. Snarski drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and came around to score on a double by sophomore centerfielder Sydney Gardner. A base hit by Velazquez put runners on first and third and Ambrose came home on a bunt over the pitcher's head by junior rightfielder Tara Airola.
Ambrose belted a two-run homer over the centerfield fence, her second round-tripper of the year, in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 10-3. Snarski followed with another base on balls and eventually scored her career-high-tying third run of the contest on an error.
Werner allowed just four base hits and finished her 50th career victory with eight strikeouts and just one walk.
Forester junior pitcher Jenny McTague also turned in a stellar performance and made a bit of history in game two. She retired the first 12 batters she faced in the game before surrendering a double to lead off the fifth. A couple of groundouts brought that runner around to score to spoil her shutout bid but McTague retired the final batter on strikes to finish off her fourth career one-hitter. It was also her fifth strikeout of the game and 264th of her career, moving her into second place in program history.
The Foresters jumped ahead on a two-run home run by Snarski in the opening inning. It was her team-high-tying fourth homer of the season and the 23rd of her career. She started the doubleheader tied for second in program history in that category and now trails only Christy Condon, who belted 34 from 2005-08.
A five-run second inning for Lake Forest quickly put the game out of reach, especially the way McTague was pitching. Gardner lde off with a base hit, stole second, and scored on a double by Velazquez. Freshman leftfielder Maria Zepeda then tripled and scored when the throw got away from the third baseman. Senior second baseman Vasi Panos then singled and Hemmer homered for the second time this season and 19th in her career, tying her with Ambrose and Mallory Norton (2007-10) for fifth in team history.
Zepeda singled in a run in the bottom of the third and later came home on a groundout by Panos to close out the scoring.
Lake Forest is now 13-10 overall this season and 7-1 in Midwest Conference play. Ripon fell to 1-19 overall and 1-7 in the league.
The Foresters will host a pair of doubleheaders this weekend, the first Saturday afternoon at 1:00 against Carroll University. It will be Senior Day and the team's soon-to-be graduates will be honored before game one. Sunday's Parents Day opponent will be Knox College and that doubleheader will also begin at 1:00 p.m.
