| Lake Forest College Sports Information
May 1, 2004 Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID Foresters Claim
Third Straight Midwest Conference Championship
Ripon defeated Monmouth College 5-4 in the tournament opener on Friday. Senior pitcher Leigh Anne Furgerson (Carmel, IN/Westfield) shut out Lawrence on just three base hits in game two of the tourney. She struck out three and walked one in her fourth shutout of the year. Sophomore Melissa Wegner (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) and juniors Alissa Mildebrath (Carol Stream, IL/West Chicago) and Hannah Starck (Aurora, IL/Aurora West) each had a pair of base hits in the contest. Mildebrath hit her first home run of the season and school record 12th of her career. Freshman Erin Watts (Evergreen Park, IL/Evergreen Park) also homered for the home team and junior Kristen Feeney (Brookfield, IL/Lyons Township) set a school record with her 14th double of the year. The Foresters scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, one in the third, and two in both the fifth and sixth. Lawrence stayed alive in the tournament by defeating Monmouth 9-4 in game three of the event. The Fighting Scots finished the season with a 14-20 record. Lake Forest set a school record with four home runs in game four. Freshman Jenny Riddle (Bloomington, IL/Normal) put the Foresters on the scoreboard with a deep drive to center field in the bottom of the second inning. After the Red Hawks tied the score in the top of the third, Mildebrath fueled a six-run rally in the bottom of the frame with her second long-ball of the day. Watts also got her second of the competition in the fourth and freshman Lisa Jeziorny (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) ended the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Ashley Closson (Murphysboro, IL/Murphysboro) struck out four batters and raised her record on the year to 6-6 with the pitching staff’s second straight three-hitter. Saturday began with Ripon eliminating Lawrence from the tourney with an 8-0 shutout. The Vikings, who won eight of their last nine league games to get into the tourney, finished 2004 with a 19-15 record. The home team scored three runs in the first inning of the championship game, six in the second, and four more in the third. Watts was 2-for-3 with an RBI-double and a two-run homer, her third of the tourney and team-high sixth of the season. Riddle was 3-for-4 with six runs batted in. She singled in two in the first and hit a grand slam, her third home run of the season, in the second. Furgerson recorded her 50th career victory. She is now 14-4 this season with a 0.99 earned run average. Ripon finished the year with a record of 26-10. The Foresters receive the MWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division
III Tournament and will compete in regional play next weekend (May 7-10)
at a site yet to be determined. The NCAA will select its 2004 tournament
teams and regional hosts on Sunday (May 2).
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