Junior second baseman Jillian Rashid was 4-for-7 on the day to help the Lake Forest College softball team sweep a doubleheader at Ripon College on Tuesday. The Foresters took the opener 3-1 and game two 6-1.
Rashid also drove in the first run of game one when her two-out single through the right side of the infield plated sophomore centerfielder Maria Zepeda in the top of the opening inning. Rashid advanced to second on the play and scored on a base hit by sophomore third baseman Alyssa Grimm.
Forester senior pitcher Jenny McTague started a 1-2-3 double play to escape a jam in the bottom of the first inning before surrendering an unearned run in the second. She kept the Red Hawks off the scoreboard the rest of the way to even her record on the season at 8-8 and lower her earned run average to 2.14. McTague struck out four batters, walked a pair, and scattered eight singles in the contest.
Lake Forest added an insurance tally in the top of the fifth inning. Zepeda led off with a bunt single, stole second, and came around to score on a base hit to left by sophomore leftfielder Abby King.
Zepeda became just the fifth player in program history to steal as many as three bases in a game when she swiped her 20th of the year in the seventh. Her attempt at matching Kim Magee's (1998-2001) school records for stolen bases in a game and season was denied when she was called out trying to take third.
Lake Forest took the lead again in the first inning of game two. King drew a two-out walk and came all the way around to score when Rashid's single was misplayed by the Ripon leftfielder. The home team, however, tied the score in the bottom of the first.
The visitors quickly regained the lead on a one-out home run by freshman third baseman Haylee Sherlund in the second. It was Sherlund's fourth homer of the season. Sophomore designated player Emma Carlson followed with an infield single before racing home on junior shortstop Kat Beall's team-leading ninth double of the year. A single by freshman first baseman Riley Frisbie plated Beall and capped off the three-run rally.
Rashid matched Beall's doubles total with a two-bagger to lead off the third. She eventually scored on an error, making the score 5-1.
The final run of the contest was scored by Zepeda in the sixth. She doubled with one out, advanced to third on a single by Frisbie, and came home on a bunt by King, who leads the team with 33 runs batted in on the season. It was Zepeda's 44th run scored of the year, leaving her just one shy of the program record set by Christi Condon 10 years ago.
Forester freshman pitcher Missy Dieckman-Meyer stranded six Red Hawk baserunners in the first three innings before retiring 12 conesutive batters. Her 12 victories (against just five losses) on the season matches the ninth-highest total in team history.
Lake Forest is now 20-14 overall in 2017 and, at 11-5 in Midwest Conference play, the Foresters have clinched their 18th straight appearance in the four-team MWC Tournament. Ripon fell to 12-22 overall and 7-9 in the league.
The Foresters will close out the regular season against Illinois College on Saturday. The doubleheader, which will be played in Janesville, Wisconsin, is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
