The Forester softball team closed out its Spring Break trip to Florida with a 2-0 triumph over Kalamazoo College on Saturday. Lake Forest also fell 7-2 to Franklin and Marshall College earlier in the day.
On a day without a lot of base hits for the Foresters or their opponents, junior first baseman Teagan Delarwelle was the only one on the team with one in each game.
Lake Forest got off to a great start with sophomore shortstop Kaylee Purgatorio belting her first home run of the season to lead off the game against Franklin and Marshall. After the Diplomats tied the score in the bottom of the second, Purgatorio scored again on an error in the top of the third.
Unfortunately for the Foresters, they were unable to score again. Franklin and Marshall plated three runs in the fourth and put the game out of reach with three more in the sixth.
Lake Forest was out-hit 6-4 in the contest.
Sophomore Brooke Challe made her season debut in the circle for the Foresters against Kalamazoo and allowed just one Hornet hit in three innings of work. She struck out one and walked one in the game before giving way to classmate Hannah Smith to start the fourth. Smith scattered three hits and a pair of walks while keeping Kalamazoo off the scoreboard for the next two-and-two-thirds innings. Ailee Pederson, another sophomore, came on with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth and recorded a strikeout to escape the jam. She added another strikeout in a scoreless seventh to earn her first career save.
Pederson also contributed significantly on offense. She led off the bottom of the third with a single, advanced to second on a base hit by Delarwelle, stole third, and scored the first run of the game on a throwing error by the catcher.
Sophomore second baseman Kelly Collins singled in freshman Emmie Nyen with Lake Forest's other run in the bottom of the fifth.
Both teams managed just five hits in the contest.
After posting a win and a loss on each of their five game days in Florida, the Foresters are now 7-6 on the season. Franklin and Marshall improved to 3-6 and Kalamazoo fell to 4-3.
Lake Forest's first home doubleheader of the season is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21, at 3:00 p.m. against Carthage College.
