Lake Forest College Sports Information
April 21, 2005
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Foresters Split Dramatic One-Run Games With Chicago
Grant pitches gem in opener, Condon homers twice in game two 

  

Christy Condon belted the first two home runs of her career.
LAKE FOREST, IL - The Lake Forest College softball team split a doubleheader at home Thursday (April 21) against the University of Chicago, who was ranked 12th in the nation in the latest (April 13) National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. The Foresters took the opener 2-1 in nine innings before falling 6-5 in game two. Lake Forest is now 16-13-1 on the season and Chicago is 20-7.

Game one was a pitching duel between Lake Forest freshman Kendra Grant (Bothell, WA/Bothell) and Chicago’s two-time All-American Hannah Roberts. Grant scattered nine hits and a pair of walks over nine innings and did not allow a run until the top of the ninth. She earned the victory and is now 5-3 this year.

Roberts, who entered the game with a 0.29 ERA, held the Foresters hitless until the bottom of the ninth inning. Sophomore Stacey Nadelhoffer (Evergreen Park, IL/Evergreen Park) led off the frame and was hit by a pitch. Senior Hannah Starck (Aurora, IL/Aurora West) then broke up the no-hit bid with a single to center. Three batters later, sophomore Erin Watts (Evergreen Park, IL/Evergreen Park) doubled to left-center field to drive in both the game-tying and winning runs. Watts now has a team-high 25 RBI on the year and trails assistant coach Robyn Slater’s single-season school record by just five.

Chicago took the early lead in game two with three runs in the top of the first and added one in the third.

The Foresters gradually chipped away at the lead. Junior Melissa Wegner (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and later scored on an error. Freshman Christy Condon (Brookfield, WI/Brookfield East) cut the deficit to one with her first career home run in the second inning and trimmed the Maroons’ lead to one again with another round-tripper in the fourth. She joined Nicole Angeli, assistant coach Jenn Reifenberg, and senior Kristen Feeney (Brookfield, IL/Lyons Township) as the only players in team history to hit two home runs in a game.

Lake Forest finally caught Chicago and took the lead with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fifth. Nadelhofer led off the inning with a single and, two batters later, scored on Wegner’s second home run of the season. Wegner was 3-for-4 in the game with the homer, a pair of doubles, two runs scored, and as many driven in.

Unfortunately for the Foresters, the visitors scored twice in the seventh inning and held on for the victory.

Lake Forest will travel to Grinnell College for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday (April 23) and to Knox College for another twinbill at noon on Sunday (April 24). Three Forester victories would secure their spot in the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament two weekends later (May 6-7).

Box Scores: Game 1 | Game 2