| Lake Forest College Sports Information
May 3, 2003 Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID Dramatic Comeback Gives Foresters Back-to-Back MWC
Titles
Lake Forest pounded out a season-high 14 base hits in the victory over Lawrence. The Foresters took the lead in the top of the third inning when senior first baseman Shanon Joselane (Glendale Heights, IL/Glenbard East) singled in senior right fielder Megan Gibson (Brown Deer, WI/Brown Deer) and sophomore shortstop Tina Koludrovic (Darien, IL/Downers Grove South), who had doubled, scored on a passed ball. After Lawrence scored one in the bottom of the third, the Foresters got one more in the top of the fourth. Sophomore left fielder Kristen Feeney (Brookfield, IL/Lyons Township) led off with a double, was sacrificed to third, and scored on a groundout. The home team scored three times in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-3 advantage. The lead would be short-lived, though, as Lake Forest responded with three runs on two home runs in the top of the fifth. Gibson led off the frame with her second of the season and sophomore designated player Shannon Clerkin (Barneveld, WI/Barneveld) belted the first of her career with two outs and a runner on base. The Foresters broke the game open with five runs in the top of the sixth. Joselane, who was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the contest, singled in one of the runs. Two more scored on a double by Clerkin, giving her a career-high four RBI in the contest. The Vikings did not give up, however, and scored three in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 11-7. Koludrovic's second double and fourth base hit of the game scored two more in the top of the seventh, including Gibson, who finished with three base hits and four runs scored. Junior Leigh Anne Furgerson (Carmel, IN/Westfield) allowed just one earned run in five innings to earn the victory. She surrendered seven hits, struck out four, and walked just one. Fellow junior pitcher Nancy Findeisen (Beecher, IL/Beecher) got the start Friday against Monmouth, who defeated St. Norbert 7-6 in the other first round game. After holding the Fighting Scots scoreless in the top of the first, she led off the bottom of the inning with an infield single. Findeisen advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a groundout before scoring the only run of the game on another infield single by sophomore second baseman Alissa Mildebrath (Carol Stream, IL/West Chicago). Monmouth managed just four base hits and never reached third base against Findeisen, who recorded her fourth shutout of the season and 15th of her career. She struck out five and did not issue a base on balls. After watching Monmouth knock St. Norbert out of the tournament, the Foresters set out to defeat the Fighting Scots for the fourth time in as many match-ups this season. Lake Forest got off to a good start when Mildebrath doubled in Koludrovic and then scored on a single by Clerkin in the bottom of the first. Monmouth came back with two runs in the top of the second and the teams played scoreless softball until the seventh inning. With two on and one out, the Scots' Rachel Webster blasted a three-run home run to force a final game in the double-elimination tournament. Monmouth stayed hot at the beginning of the championship game, scoring two runs in the first and three in the second off Closson. Furgerson came on in relief with one out in the top of the second. In the bottom of the third, the Foresters loaded the bases with one out and celebrated as Clerkin belted a grand slam, her second homer of the weekend and her career, to trim the Monmouth lead to 5-4. The Scots extended the margin to 8-4 with a three-run fourth. Lake Forest scored once in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Joselane and trailed 8-5 going into the bottom of the seventh. Koludrovic walked to lead off the inning and Mildebrath followed with a base hit to right field. Clerkin drew a walk to load the bases and Joselane followed with yet another base on balls to score Koludrovic. After a pitching change, Feeney singled to center to score Mildebrath and bring the Foresters to within one run. After Furgerson struck out swinging, freshman catcher Jen Thomason (Arvada, CO/Arvada West), who had just one base hit and no RBI on the year, doubled to right to score a pair of pinch runners with the game-tying and winning runs. Furgerson got the victory to improve to 12-3 on the season with a team-best 1.27 earned run average. She now has a 35-16 record and a 1.49 ERA in a school-record 342 career innings pitched. The dramatic victory gives Lake Forest back-to-back MWC titles and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Regional play will begin Friday at a site to be determined. The team's 23-11 record is easily its second-highest win total in school history, trailing only last year's mark of 34-12. Friday's Box Scores:
Saturday's Box Scores:
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