Lake Forest College Sports Information
April 25, 2002
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Four School Records Fall in Sweep of the Nation's 12th-Ranked Team
Forester pitchers allow total of three hits in the doubleheader
  

 Alissa Mildebrath started the day with her school-record fifth home run of the season.
LAKE FOREST, IL - On Thursday (April 25th), the Lake Forest College softball team earned its fourth and fifth victories of the season over opponents currently ranked among the nation's top 25 teams (USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association). The latest victim was #12 Benedictine University, who the Foresters outscored 5-1 in game one of the doubleheader and 3-1 in game two. The sweep raises the Foresters record to 20-9 and gives Head Coach Diane Kanney and the team their first-ever 20-win season.

Nancy Findeisen (Beecher, IL/ Beecher) had one of her best performances of the year in the opener, taking a perfect game into the fifth inning and a bid for her second no-hitter of the season into the sixth. Before freshman Shannon Clerkin (Barneveld, WI/Barneveld) came on to pitch a perfect seventh inning, Findeisen had allowed just one run on two base hits and had struck out 12. The sophomore is now 9-5 in 2002 with a 0.91 earned run average and has set a new school record with 97 strikeouts.

Offensively, the Foresters took a commanding lead early with a four-run first. Freshman leadoff hitter Alissa Mildebrath (Carol Stream, IL/West Chicago) started the inning with her school-record fifth home run of the season, a towering shot to left field that gave the team a homer in seven straight games. After singles by junior second baseman Megan Gibson (Brown Deer, WI/Brown Deer) and freshman shortstop Tina Koludrovic (Darien, IL/Downers Grove South) and the first out of the frame, senior catcher Jenn Reifenberg (Skokie, IL/Niles West) hit the team's second homer of the inning, her second of the season.

Koludrovic, the team's leading hitter with a .392 batting average, went 3-for-3 in the game. Gibson and Reifenberg were both 2-for-3, with Reifenberg also connecting for her school-record 11th double of the year.

Lake Forest took the early lead again in game two of the doubleheader when four singles and a walk resulted in a pair of first inning runs. Benedictine's only score of the contest came on an RBI groundout in the top of the third. The home team added an insurance run in the sixth inning when Koludrovic completed her perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate with a pinch-hit RBI single.

After the visitors managed only two hits in the first game, Leigh Anne Furgerson (Carmel, IN/Westfield) held them to just one in game two. The sophomore's eighth straight victory raised her record for the season to 9-3 and lowered her ERA to 1.59. The reigning Forester Athlete of the Week and Midwest Conference South Division Player of the Week struck out three, walked one, and faced just 23 batters in the game.

Lake Forest will put its 7-2 league record on the line this weekend (April 27-28th) when it hosts Grinnell College on Saturday (1:00 PM) and Knox College on Sunday (11:00 AM). Wins in at least three of the four games would clinch the team's right to host the MWC Championship Tournament next weekend (May 3-4th).

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score