Lake Forest College Sports Information
May 20, 2002
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Historic Season Ends With Runner-Up Finish at National Tournament
Foresters fall to Ithaca College in NCAA Championship Game
  

 Tina Koludrovic had 10 base hits at the tournament, four more than any other player.
EAU CLAIRE, WI - While the Forester softball team's 2002 season began with a 10-5 victory over Ithaca College (NY), it ended with a 1-0 loss to the same team in the NCAA National Championship Game on Monday (May 20th). Lake Forest advanced to the title game of the double-elimination tourney despite dropping its opening round match-up against Emory University (1-0) on Thursday (May 16th). The Foresters eliminated Western Connecticut State University (6-3) on Friday (May 17th). They knocked Salisbury State University (6-0) and Pacific Lutheran University (3-2) out of contention on Saturday (May 18th). On Sunday (May 19th), Lake Forest avenged the loss to Emory with a 1-0 victory and gave Ithaca its first defeat (4-2) of the tournament to force Monday's championship game.

In the title game, the Foresters out-hit the Bombers, 5-3, but left seven runners on base while Ithaca stranded just three. A "seeing-eye single" in the bottom of the second inning scored the game's only run.

Lake Forest pitcher Leigh Anne Furgerson (Carmel, IN/Westfield) allowed just four Ithaca batters to reach base. The sophomore finished the season with a 13-5 record and a 1.27 earned run average. She was 1-1 with a 1.47 ERA at the national tourney and was named to the all-tournament team.

Joining Furgerson on the all-tournament team was fellow sophomore pitcher Nancy Findeisen (Beecher, IL/ Beecher). The Third Team All-American had a 4-1 record at the tourney with a 0.97 ERA, giving her a 19-6 mark for the season and a school record ERA of 0.75. Her 19 wins are one more than the entire team has had in any previous year. In arguably the best season ever for a Lake Forest pitcher, Findeisen also set school records for strikeouts (156), shutouts (10) and winning percentage (.760).

Shortstop Tina Koludrovic (Darien, IL/Downers Grove South), the team's leading hitter for the season (.395), was also selected to the all-tournament team. In 21 at-bats, the freshman had 10 hits (.476), four more than any other player at the tourney. Koludrovic set a school record this season with 51 base hits.

Third baseman Robyn Slater (Granite City, IL/Granite City) was the Foresters' fourth all-tournament selection. Slater's ninth-inning walk-off home run Saturday night eliminated top seed Pacific Lutheran University from the tournament. She led all tourney players with three doubles and was third with six runs batted in. For the season, Slater hit six home runs and set a school record with 30 RBI.

The Foresters set a number of other single season school records. Freshman second baseman Alissa Mildebrath (Carol Stream, IL/West Chicago) hit eight home runs, twice the previous high, and accumulated 83 total bases. Mildebrath's 10 doubles would also have been a new school record had senior catcher Jenn Reifenberg (Skokie, IL/Niles West) not hit 12. Junior Megan Gibson (Brown Deer, WI/Brown Deer) helped set up many of the team's scoring opportunities with 16 sacrifice bunts.

Lake Forest finished the year with a 34-12 record, its first Midwest Conference Championship since 1988, and a second-place finish at the NCAA Division III National Tournament. With 34 victories, the 2002 Foresters nearly doubled the program's previous high (18). The team's 1.03 earned run average is not only a school record, but also ranks among the top 10 in the nation this season.

Championship Game Box Score
NCAA National Championship Tournament Web Site