Lake Forest College Sports Information
May 12, 2003
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Wartburg Defeats Lake Forest in NCAA Regional Championship
Clerkin homers for the third time this year
  

 Shannon Clerkin's home run was the only Forester score.
WAVERLY, IA - The Forester softball team could not get the bats going Monday (May 12) and dropped a pair of games to host Wartburg College in the NCAA Division III Regional Championship. The Knights completed their game with Gustavus Adolphuis, a 1-0 ten-inning victory, to start the day. Wartburg then defeated Lake Forest, who had yet to lose in the tourney, 6-1 to force a final championship game. The Knights edged out the Foresters 1-0 to take the regional crown and advance to Salem, Virginia for the eight-team NCAA National Championship Tournament.

In the first game between Wartburg and Lake Forest, the teams played four scoreless innings before the Knights plated one in the top of the fifth on three base hits. The following inning, Wartburg used three base hits, a hit batter, and a Forester error to break the game open with four runs.

Lake Forest got its only score of the game in the bottom of the sixth on sophomore designated player Shannon Clerkin (Barneveld, WI/Barneveld) leadoff home run to right field, her third of the season.

The Knights tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh when Lake Forest committed a pair of errors. Of the six runs allowed by junior Nancy Findeisen (Beecher, IL/Beecher) and freshman Ashley Closson (Murphysboro, IL/Murphysboro), only two were earned. Findeisen struck out five and did not walk a batter in six innings of work. Her record fell to 9-7 on the season.

Both teams had ten base hits in the game and left ten runners on base. Sophomore shortstop Tina Koludrovic (Carol Stream, IL/West Chicago) had three singles and sophomore catcher Justeen Streich (Arlington Heights, IL/Hersey) had two. The Foresters, who had not committed an error in the previous two tournament games, had four in this contest.

The final game was also scoreless until the top of the fifth. Wartburg's leadoff hitter reached on an error and a pinch-runner was inserted into the game. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and went to third on a groundout before scoring on a single to center by Cindy Hanneman.

Junior pitcher Leigh Anne Furgerson (Carmel, IN/Westfield) allowed just four base hits and the unearned run in the game. She struck out two and did not walk a batter. Furgerson finished the year with a 12-4 record and a 1.16 earned run average. Through just three seasons, she is the school's all-time leader with 36 career victories (against just 17 losses), 38 complete games, and 357 innings pitched.

The team loses just three players, third baseman Robyn Slater (Granite City, IL/Granite City), first baseman Shanon Joselane (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard East), and second baseman/right fielder Megan Gibson (Brown Deer, WI/Brown Deer) to graduation.

Box Scores:
Wartburg 6, Lake Forest 1
Wartburg 1, Lake Forest 0