The Forester softball team split a doubleheader with Elmhurst University on Friday, dropping the opener 9-4 before taking game two 13-8. The victory was Lake Forest's first on the new artificial turf of Mohr Field.
The afternoon began with each team scoring three times in the first inning. Back-to-back run-scoring doubles by senior shortstop Hannah Kalnicky and junior designated player Hailey Boylan brought home the Foresters' first two tallies and sophomore third baseman Melissa Manzo singled home Boylan to tie the score at three in the bottom of the frame.
Elmhurst regained the lead for good with a pair of runs in the top of the second.
While four consecutive hits by Kalnicky, Boylan, Manzo, and sophomore leftfielder Brie Gauthier scored three in the first inning, a repeat in the third produced just one run, making the score 5-4 in favor of the Bluejays.
The visitors tacked on two more runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to pull away and the Foresters did not have a hit the rest of the way.
Neither team crossed home plate in the first inning of game two. Lake Forest took the lead in the bottom of the second when junior centerfielder Josie Klein, who drew three walks from her leadoff spot in the lineup in game one, came through with a two-out single to plate Manzo with the game's first run.
Junior pitcher Meghan Joyce kept the visitors off the scoreboard for the first three innings and the Foresters increased their lead with a four-run rally in the bottom of the third. Kalnicky raced home on a wild pitch to account for the first tally and freshman third baseman Jenny Gibbs singled in Boylan with the second. Gauthier scored on a base hit by senior first baseman Abby Ponder, who came home on Klein's second two-out, run-scoring single of the contest.
After Elmhurst responded with three runs in the top of the fourth, Lake Forest answered with eight in the bottom of the frame. Boylan, Gibbs, Gauthier, and freshman Kristen Calhoun had singles and the Foresters took advantage of three errors, a hit by pitch, three walks, and a wild pitch in the inning.
With darkness falling fast in the fifth, the Bluejays managed to add five runs to their total for the day. Lake Forest senior second baseman Shaye Gauthier made a nice catch on a line drive headed for right field and doubled the runner off first for a game-ending double play.
Brie Gauthier had five hits in the two games combined while Kalnicky, Boylan, and Manzo added three apiece.
The Foresters are now 3-3 and Elmhurst 1-3 on the season.
Lake Forest's next doubleheader in scheduled for Saturday, April 3, at Ripon College.
