Senior shortstop Kat Beall tied a program record with five base hits, including the 100th of her career, the Lake Forest College softball team's 18-4 5-inning victory over the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Friday. The Foresters fell 6-1 to Millikin University later in the day.
Beall, whose previous career-high for hits in a game was three, matched the mark originally set by Kristen Feeney in 2004 and tied by Shelby Neill in 2007 and Mallory Norton in 2010. All five of the hits were singles and she came around to score three times while driving in a pair of runs.
While Beall tied one team record, junior rightfielder Abby King broke another without even putting the ball in play. She drew five walks in the game, surpassing the mark of four set by Lori Edenhofer in 1985. King came around to score three times, as did sophomore first baseman Riley Frisbie and junior centerfielder Maria Zepeda. Like Beall and King, Frisbie reached base safely five times. She doubled and scored in the first inning, belted a three-run home run in the second, singled to lead off the fourth, and was hit by a pitch early in the fifth, and singled again later in the frame for her career-high fourth hit of the contest. Freshman second baseman Hannah Kalnicky turned in her first career three-hit performance and added six runs batted in. She had a two-run double in the second inning, drove in two more on another two-bagger in the fourth, and brought home two more Foresters on a single in the fifth.
Lake Forest's 18 runs were the most the team has scored in a game since racking up 23 against Beloit College in April of 2015. The Foresters actually trailed 2-1 after the first inning but scored five times in the top of the second second and added three runs in the fourth. After the Falcons plated two in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 9-4, Lake Forest sent 15 batters to the plate in a nine-run fifth that put the game out of reach.
Sophomore pitcher Missy Dieckman-Meyer pitched all five innings for the Foresters and earned her fifth victory in as many starts this season. She recorded three strikeouts in the game, including the 100th of her career.
After recording 16 base hits in their first game of the day, the Foresters managed just four against Millikin. The game was scoreless until three consecutive two-out singled by the Big Blue in the top of the fifth brought home the first run. Millikin added five unearned runs with two outs in the sixth.
Lake Forest's only run of the contest came in the bottom of the seventh. Zepeda led off the inning with a single, stole second, and came home on a double by King.
The Foresters are now 9-3 on the season. River Falls fell to 10-3 and Millikin improved to 8-5.
Lake Forest will close out its Spring Break Trip to the Orlando, Florida, on Saturday against Amherst College at 9:00 a.m. (EST) and Hope College at 2:00 p.m. (EST).