Behind home runs by senior Sam Ritsema and sophomores Sally Snarski, Alex Hemmer, and Vasi Panos, and another stellar pitching performance by sophomore Jessi Werner, the Lake Forest College softball team defeated St. Norbert College 15-2 on Sunday. The Foresters won all five of their Midwest Conference Classic games over the weekend.
Hemmer was the first to clear the fence and her two-run shot to left field gave the Foresters the lead in the top of the second inning. It was her second round-tripper of the season. Two batters later, Panos left the yard for the third time this year to extend the lead to 3-0.
Freshman rightfielder Tara Airola drove in Lake Forest's next two runs. She doubled in Ritsema in the third inning and junior centerfielder Kayla Borgra in the fifth, making the score 5-0.
Lake Forest added four more runs in the sixth. A double by Borgra brought home the first two and Ritsema followed with her third homer of the year, all of which came in the last four games. She took over sole possession of fourth place in program history with the 16th home run of her career.
After the Green Knights finally got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, a rain delay halted play in the top of the sixth. Two hours passed before play resumed and the Forester offense picked up where it left off with a six-run rally. The team hit for the cycle in the inning with a single by freshman designated player Jenny McTague, an RBI double by Borgra, a two-run triple by junior leftfielder Audrey Djukic, and a three-run homer by Snarski. Snarski became just the second player in program history to reach double figures in home runs in a season. She tied Christy Condon's 2006 total of 10 and trails only Condon's 11 in 2007 and 2008 on the single-season list.
Ritsema and Airola each had three of the Foresters' 15 base hits in the contest. Ten of those hits went for extra bases and the team's 34 total bases on the day ranks second in team history.
Hitting was not the only successful part of the game for Lake Forest on Sunday. The team did not commit an error and Werner struck out a career-high 12 batters in the contest. That tied the fourth-highest single-game total in school history and her 87 strikeouts in 84 innings this year is also tied for fourth in team annals. She is now 10-3 with a 1.92 earned run average in 2014.
The Foresters raised their overall record this season to 19-4 and set a program record with their 13th victory in a row. They are also 11-0 in MWC play. St. Norbert fell to 9-13 overall and 4-3 in the league.
Lake Forest will host Elmhurst College in a non-conference doubleheader next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
