Senior pitcher Jessi Werner earned her program record 52nd career victory in the opener and a save in game two as the Lake Forest College softball team defeated Knox College 8-0 (5 innings) and 5-1 on Sunday.
Werner faced the minimum in her four innings in the circle in game one. The only base hit she allowed was a line drive over freshman leftfielder Maria Zepeda's head with two outs in the second inning. Zepeda raced back to pick up the ball at the fence and fired a strike to second base to retire the batter trying for a double. Werner struck out seven batters without issuing a walk and her record-setting win broke a tie with Forester Athletic Hall of Fame member Leigh Anne Furgerson.
A two-out RBi-double by sophomore shortstop Kat Beall in the bottom of the first inning started the scoring for the Foresters. Sophomore centerfielder Sydner Gardner followed with a two-run double and freshman Alyssa Grimm belted her third home run of the season to finish off the five-run inning.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of senior catcher Alex Hemmer brought home Zepeda in the bottom of the second and a run-scoring single by freshman Emma Carlson later in the inning made the score 7-0.
After Lake Forest sophomore pitcher Jenny Carpenter tossed a perfect inning in the top of the fifth, Carlson scored on a base hit by Grimm in the bottom of the frame to close out the eight-run victory.
Aggressive baserunning by Gardner gave the Foresters the early lead in game two. She doubled to lead off the bottom of the second inning, advanced to third on a flyout to left field, and scored on a wild pitch that only rolled a few feet away from the catcher.
The home team also scored a run in the third on a single by senior third baseman Kaleigh Ambrose and three bases on ball, the last giving sophomore Jillian Rashid a run batted in.
Freshman catcher Lucy Stahl doubled to lead off the bottom of the fourth and scored when the next hitter, rightfielder Sam Rosenfeld, tripled to right. Rosenfeld was stranded on third, however, and the Foresters' lead was just 3-0 going into the fifth.
Lake Forest junior pitcher Jenny McTague, who tossed a perfect game on Saturday, did not allow a hit to Knox until surrendering an infield single in the fourth inning. The Prairie Fire's second hit of the contest, combined with three walks, brought home a run and loaded the bases with one out in the fifth.
Werner came on in relief, escaped the jam, and retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh to earn her fifth career save, tying the team record set by Ashley Closson in 2005. She struck out five of the eight batters she faced and added a single on offense for her first base hit since the 2014 season opener.
The Foresters added an insurance run on senior first baseman Sally Snarski's team-high sixth homer of the season in the bottom of the fifth. They tacked on one more in the sixth when senior third baseman Kaleigh Ambrose singled in Rosenfeld.
McTague's victory improved her record on the season to 7-5. She went 4-0 and allowed just three runs on five hits in 21.1 innings this week.
After sweeping Midwest Conference doubleheaders at home against Beloit College on Tuesday, Ripon College on Wednesday, Carroll University on Saturday, and Knox on Sunday, Lake Forest is 17-10 overall and 11-1 in league play this season. Knox fell to 0-22 overall and 0-10 in the conference.
The Foresters will continue MWC play in Iowa next weekend, taking on Cornell College on Saturday and Grinnell College on Sunday. Both doubleheaders will begin at 1:00 p.m.