After winning against Monmouth College, the Lake Forest softball team dropped their second game of the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament to Illinois College on Saturday.
In their first game, the Foresters won against the Fighting Scots 5-2 with senior Carlie Mertz on the mound. Mertz struck out nine on the day and allowed no walks or earned runs.
Lake Forest was down 2-0 through four innings. The Foresters were able to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Kaylee Purgatorio ripped a triple to right field with freshman Angelle Bills on first. On the next at bat, freshman Caeli Kinsella reached first on a fielder's choice; there was an error on the play by the Monmouth pitcher, which allowed Purgatorio to reach home and Kinsella to make it to second base.
Lake Forest took the lead in the sixth inning and wouldn't lose it. Freshman Kelly Collins got on base with with a double to right field and was batted in two batters later when Bills hit a single. Puragtorio doubled and was able to advance to third on an error by the short stop, scoring freshman Teagan Delarwelle, who was pinch running for Bills. The Monmouth pitcher threw a wild pitch with Kinsella at bat, which allowed Kinsella to reach first and Purgatorio to score the final run of the game.
After watching Grinnell College defeat Monmouth in the game following, Lake Forest took the field for the second time, this time facing Illinois College, who had defeated Grinnell earlier in the day.
The Lady Blues got on the board first when their batter hit a pop fly to center with a runner on second, and senior Josie Klein made an errant throw trying to catch the runner advancing to third; the runner was able to turn for home and made it safely across the plate. Illinios College scored once more in the third and then four times in the seventh to insure their victory against the Foresters, who were only able to score once in the bottom of the seventh when Klein doubled to right field, bringing Purgatorio home from second.
Hannah Smith was on the mound for the Foresters against Illinois College. She was able to strike out five.
The Foresters are still alive in the double-elimination MWC Tournament; they will face Grinnell College on Sunday at 10 a.m. The winner of the game will move on to play Illinois College at noon.
