Lake Forest College Sports Information
April 26, 2003
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Foresters Fall Twice at Knox but Still Reach MWC Tournament
Team plays second-longest game in school history
  

 Kristen Feeney was 3-for-3 in game one of the doubleheader.
GALESBURG, IL - The Lake Forest softball team dropped both games in a doubleheader at Knox College Saturday (April 26). The Prairie Fire won the first game 4-2 and took game two 2-1 in 12 innings. Despite the losses, the Foresters managed to secure one of the South Division's two spots in the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament because fifth-place Illinois College split a doubleheader at third-place Grinnell, making Lake Forest impossible for Grinnell to catch in the standings. The Foresters are now 20-10 overall and 9-4 in MWC games. Knox improved to 15-11 overall and 6-5 in the league.

Knox scored one in the bottom of the first inning to take the early lead in game one. The Foresters tied the score in the third when sophomore shortstop Tina Koludrovic's (Darien, IL/Downers Grove South) sacrifice fly scored freshman third baseman Melissa Wegner (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech), who had doubled to lead off the frame.

The Prairie Fire regained the lead with one in the fourth and scored two more in the bottom of the fifth. An RBI-groundout scored the Foresters' final run in the seventh.

Sophomore left fielder Kristen Feeney (Brookfield, IL/Lyons Township) was 3-for-3 in the game and sophomore second baseman Alissa Mildebrath (Carol Stream, IL/West Chicago) added a pair of hits. 

At 12 innings, game two was the second-longest game in Forester softball history, trailing only a 1-0 loss to Trinity Christian College in 13 innings on the same date in 1986.

Knox scored its first run in the top of the fifth. Mildebrath's team-high third home run of the year tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. She now has 11 homers in her career, tied with senior Robyn Slater (Granite City, IL/Granite City) for first in the Forester record books. Mildebrath and senior first baseman Shanon Joselane (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard East) were each 2-for-4 in the game. After Koludrovic's school-record 20-game hitting streak ended in game one, she tied another team record with six at-bats in game two.

Junior Leigh Anne Furgerson (Carmel, IN/Westfield) allowed just one run on five hits through seven innings. Freshman Ashley Closson (Murphysboro, IL/Murphysboro) also surrendered just one run and struck out three in five innings but suffered the tough-luck loss, the first of her career.

Next weekend's (May 2-3) MWC Championship Tourney will be hosted by Lawrence University, the North Division's first-place team, and will also include St. Norbert College from the North and either Monmouth College or Grinnell College from the South.

Box Scores: Game 1 | Game 2