Senior Josie Klein pitched a complete, shut-out game to open Lake Forest softball's twinbill against Cornell College on Saturday. After battling back from seven-run deficit in game two, freshman Kaylee Purgatorio hit a walk-off triple to win the second game and defend the Foresters undefeated Conference record.
Klein's hitting streak was broken at 19 games. She hit a double in the first game, but was unable to connect in the second, going 0-for-4. With the 19 game streak, she is now ranked second overall in team history and was only one game shy of the record.
The opening game of the series was a quiet one with the Foresters scoring three times in the first two innings. In the bottom of the first, enior Hayley Boylan got the socring started for the Foresters with a RBI single with the bases loaded, and then two batters later, freshman Cheyenne Pellettiere reached first on a fielder's choice, bringing home another run home. In the second inning, Klein hit a double with junior Elena Chrisman on first, and Chrisman was able to round the bases and score.
In the top of the third, Lake Forest was able to get out of the inning when, with runners on second and third, the Cornell batter hit a dribbler up the left baseline to freshman Caeli Kinsella. Kinsella got it to first to get the runner out, and then sophomore Teagan Delarwelle on first threw it second as the runner was off the bag. When she threw, the Cornell runner at third went for home, so freshman Kelly Collins threw it to catcher Boylan, who was able to tag the runner out at the plate and deny Cornell a run.
The Foresters added some security to their win with two additional runs in the bottom of the sixth. They won 5-0.
Lake Forest found themselves in a 8-1 hole after the third inning in the seond game of the series. With the game tied one a piece after the first inning, the Cornell Rams racked up the five hits and six runs in the top of the third to take a commanding lead.
The Foresters scored four runs in the fifth and three more in the six. The game came down to the bottom of the seventh inning. Collins led off with a single and advanced to second by Pellettiere's single in the next at bat. Delarwelle hit a sacrifice bunt to move Collins to third and Pellettiere to second, and then Purgatorio came up to the plate and hit a deep shot to left center. The center fielder fumbled with the ball a bit at the fence and the winning run crossed the bag before she was able to get her throw off. The Foresters won 10-9.
With these two wins, Lake Forest is now 18-10 overall and 10-0 in Conference. Cornell falls to 6-17 and 4-4.
Lake Forest will travel to North Central College for their next games on Tuesday, April 19 at 3 and 5 p.m.
