Foresters Split With Knox, Earn Right to Host MWC Tournament
Slater hits dramatic home run to send game one into extra innings
  

 Robyn Slater sent game one into extra innings with a dramatic home run in the seventh.

Knox's only run in the opener came in the top of the first inning on a single, a sacrifice bunt, and an error by Lake Forest third baseman Robyn Slater (Granite City, IL/Granite City). The score was still 1-0 in favor of the visitors when Slater stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the seventh. The junior must have liked the first pitch she saw because she belted it over the fence in right-center field to tie the game.

Freshman pinch-hitter Shannon Clerkin (Barneveld, WI/Barneveld) led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single. Senior centerfielder Erin Valentour's (Bolingbrook, IL/Downers Grove South) sacrifice bunt was mishandled, giving the Foresters a couple of baserunners with no outs. After a pair of fielder's choice groundouts failed to advance a runner past second, freshman shortstop Tina Koludrovic (Darien, IL/Downers Grove South) came through in the clutch with a line drive single over the shortstop's head to bring in the game-winner.

The complete game victory went to Nancy Findeisen (Beecher, IL/ Beecher), raising her record on the year to 11-5. The sophomore struck out nine batters in the game and at least one in seven of the eight innings, extending her school record for strikeouts in a season to 114. She allowed seven base hits and, since the lone Knox run scored on an error, lowered her already miniscule earned run average to 0.80.

Fellow sophomore pitcher Leigh Anne Furgerson (Carmel, IN/Westfield) was not quite as fortunate in game two, as the Prairie Fire ended her nine-game winning streak. Furgerson allowed just one hit but three Forester errors led to a pair of unearned runs, one in the bottom of the first inning and one in the third.

Lake Forest's only run of the contest came in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, the Foresters strung together four consecutive singles, but only scored once while running into two outs on the base paths. The run was scored by freshman shortstop Hannah Starck (Aurora, IL/Aurora West), who had two hits in as many at-bats, and driven in by junior second baseman Megan Gibson (Brown Deer, WI/Brown Deer), who was the only player on either squad to record at least one base hit in each game.

Along with the divisional title, Lake Forest (23-10, 10-3 MWC) also earned the right to host the 2002 MWC Championship Tournament this weekend (May 3-4th). On Friday, Lawrence University (18-13, 9-4) will take on Monmouth College (17-13, 9-4) at 10:00 AM, and the Foresters will host St. Norbert College (16-13, 9-4) at noon. The losers will play at 2:00 PM and the winners at 4:00. The double-elimination tournament will conclude on Saturday and the champion will advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score