Sweep at Grinnell Puts Foresters in MWC Championship Tournament
Team can clinch four straight South Division title tomorrow  
  

Mallory Norton

Shelby Neill

Hannah Michal

Lake Forest took the early lead in game one. Senior Hannah Michal (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake) reached on an error to lead off the game, stole second, and scored with two outs on a single by junior Mallory Norton (Chicago, Ill./Resurrection).

The one-run lead turned into a deficit of the same size when the Pioneers plated two in the bottom of the third inning. The Foresters, however, quickly pulled even in the fourth. Norton led off the frame with a triple and was bunted in by junior Jill Pfund (Morenci, Mich./Morenci).

The visitors regained the lead in the fifth on a two-out, two-run double by Norton.

The Pioneers rallied for two runs to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh inning. The game nearly ended a few batters later but junior Sam Pinsonneault (Manchester, N.H./New Hampton) threw out the potential winning run at the plate.

Norton started an eighth-inning rally with a one-out double, her fourth base hit of the contest. Junior Jeanette Andresen (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) singled and classmate Shelby Neill (Manitou Beach, Mich./Lenawee Christian) belted a three-run home run to give the Foresters the lead for good. Pinsonnealt singled in a run later in the inning and Michal followed with another three-run homer, her first round-tripper of the season.

Andresen, who pitched all eight innings, retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth to even her record on the year at 6-6. She scattered 11 hits while striking out six and walking two in the game.

Neill finished with three base hits and Michal and Pinsonneault had two.

Grinnell grabbed the lead in game two with three runs in the top of the first inning. Lake Forest responded with two in the bottom of the frame. Michal led off with a triple and scored on a base hit by sophomore Kaylee Gendrich (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha North). Gendrich advanced to second on an error and third on a passed ball before scoring on a groundout by Norton.

The Pioneers retained their 3-2 lead until the the Foresters scored six times in the bottom of the third. Junior Tracy Rainey (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) started the rally with a one-out single. She advanced to third with Norton reached on an error by the left fielder and scored on a groundout by Andresen. Neill singled in Norton and freshmen Danielle Gore (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) and Leslie Harshey (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) followed with infield hits. Pinsonneault drove in two on a single and scored behind Harshey on an error by the catcher.

Rainey belted her third home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth and Neill hit her second of the day and fourth of the year later in the inning.

Lake Forest finished off the victory in the fifth. Pinsonneault and Michal singled, Pfund reached on an error, and Rainey recorded her third base hit of the game to score the winner. Michal also had three hits and Neill, Gore, Harshey, and Pinsonneault had two.

After surrendering three runs in the first, sophomore pitcher Gretchen Galasek (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) allowed just two base hits in the final four innings. She struck out three and walked just one in the contest.

The Foresters clinched a spot in next weekend's (May 1-2) four-team MWC Championship Tournament and can clinch the top seed in the South Division for the fourth straight season with a victory in either game of the doubleheader at Knox College Sunday afternoon (April 26) at 1:00. The division's other berth in the conference tournament will be decided by game one of Grinnell's doubleheader at Monmouth College on Sunday.