Lake Forest College and the Prairie Fire combined to hit 10 home runs on a cold, damp and windy day Tuesday afternoon at the Knox College Softball Field, but unfortunately, the Foresters hit seven of the long balls and came away with a 13-6 and 11-2 Midwest Conference doubleheader sweep.
The temperature prior to the first game was 54 degrees, but it felt much cooler thanks to wind gusts of 23 miles per hour blowing straight out of the ball park, resulting in several fly balls that might be caught on a normal day instead leaving the yard.
The Prairie Fire and Lake Forest entered the games trying to extend winning streaks. Knox had won three straight while Lake Forest, one of the hottest teams in the Midwest Conference, was coming off a sweep of Grinnell College (15-2, 8-0) April 23 for five victories in the last six contests.
After winning only four of the first 16 games to begin the season, the Foresters won their first three games at the Midwest Conference Crossover Classic in Janesville, Wisconsin before dropping the last two for a 7-14 record.
LFC followed the Crossover with five wins in its next seven games to boost its record to 12-16, including a 7-3 mark in league play that clinched for the Foresters a spot in next month's Midwest Conference Tournament.
The Prairie Fire and Lake Forest got into a slugfest in the first game of the doubleheader.
The Foresters scored six runs in the first inning. First-year Knox pitcher Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, Ohio) gave up run-scoring hits to Anna Pendegraft, Nikki Miller and Mindy Runge as well as a sacrifice fly RBI by Dani Gore. The Foresters also took advantage of a two-base error to begin the game, two passed balls, a wild pitch and a stolen base in the inning to take the early lead.
Knox responded with a big first inning of its own to close the deficit to two runs.
Junior outfielder Kaylah Murphy (Canton, Illinois) led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by sophomore Jill Krippel (Plainfield, Illinois). Sophomore Britt Wisniewski (Park Ridge, Illinois) singled to drive in Murphy to put the Prairie Fire on the board. Junior Beth McRill (Streamwood, Illinois) followed Wisniewski's hit with a single. First-year infielder/pitcher Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, Illinois) smacked her first home run of the season, a three-run shot off Forester hurler Cami Daun, to cut the Lake Forest lead to 6-4 with one out. Knox was unable to add any more runs in the inning. Daun struck out first-year infielder Jordan Shaffer (Atlanta, Illinois) and got sophomore Sara Leverton to ground out to keep the score at 6-4.
Lake Forest, which came into the game leading the MWC in home runs with 19, got its first of the game when Aubrey Pendegraft hit her fifth of the season in the second inning to give the Foresters a 7-4 lead.
After a scoreless second inning and another run by Lake Forest in the third on a homer by Dani Gore -- her third this spring -- the Prairie Fire cut the Foresters' lead to two again with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third.
Krippel led off the inning by reaching base on an error by the shortstop. Wisniewski made LFC pay for not making the play when she hit a long two-run home run, her second of the season, to cut the deficit to 8-6 with no outs and prompt Lake Forest Coach Joe Kinsella to make a pitching change. He brought in ace Kelly chesnut, who leads the team with a 2.65 ERA. Chesnut retired the next three batters and prevented any further damage.
Lake Forest scored a run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and plated two more in the top of the seventh against Lemen and Eisha, who came in to pitch in the sixth.
The Foresters added three more home runs in the game. Pendegraft hit her second -- a solo shot in the fourth inning -- and her sixth this season, a solo shot by Sammie Zender -- her first -- in the fifth, and a two-run blast by Cuthbert in the seventh inning.
Lake Forest outhit the Prairie Fire 15-10 in the game. Cuthbert and Pendegraft had three hits apiece and combined for three home runs and five RBIs. Chesnut (5-4) shut out Knox in her five innings of work. She scattered five hits, struck out eight and walked one to earn the win.
Lemen (1-7) threw 5 2/3 innings and gave up eight earned runs on 12 hits. Eisha pitched 1 1/3 innings and surrendered two runs on three hits.
Wisniewski had three hits, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored to lead the Prairie Fire offense while McRill added three hits and Eisha drove in three runs.
Lake Forest starting pitcher Molly Thomsen held Knox in check in the second game. The Prairie Fire managed a pair of runs off Thomsen in the fourth inning when Eisha hit a two-run homer to left, scoring McRill -- who got on base ahead of Eisha with a single.
The Foresters plated five runs on five hits in the second inning and added one on three hits in the third off Eisha for a 6-0 lead.
Eisha kept the score at 6-0 by getting out of a jam in the fourth inning. The first two batters reached on singles. A fielder's choice that forced out a runner going to second base followed by a 6-4-3 double play prevented LFC from adding to its lead.
The Foresters, however, hit their sixth homer of the day courtesy of Gore's solo shot in the fifth inning for a 7-2 lead. Cuthbert followed with the longest home run of the afternoon, a blast to left field with the bases empty for her second of the day and team-leading seventh that made it a 10-2 LFC advantage.
Lake Forest banged out 18 hits in the finale against Eisha (3-10), who took the loss after allowing 11 runs (10 earned) and struck out one with one walk. Thomsen (4-6) earned the win after allowing two runs on five hits. She struck out one and did not issue a walk.
The Foresters (14-16, 9-3 MWC) showed they are one of the best hitting teams in the Midwest Conference, combining for 24 runs and 33 hits while striking out only once. Lake Forest leads the MWC in home runs and is second in runs scored, hits, runs batted in, walks and stolen bases.
The Prairie Fire had allowed only three home runs all season going into the doubleheader against LFC, which was one of the lowest totals in the conference.
The Foresters have now won four straight games and seven of their last nine.
Wisniewski, McRill and Eisha combined for 10 hits in 21 at-bats (.476 average), three home runs, eight runs batted in and five runs scored for the Prairie Fire (5-18, 0-9 MWC) against Lake Forest.
Wisniewski leads the team with a .386 batting average, 27 hits and 14 RBIs while she's tied with Eisha for the lead in home runs with two.
Eisha is second with a .348 batting average, 23 hits and 13 RBIs. McRill, who went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader, raised her average to .304. She's contributed 17 hits and eight runs batted in so far this season.
The Prairie Fire is looking for a MWC sweep Friday at home against winless Grinnell College. The Pioneers have struggled this season with an 0-25 overall record, including 0-9 in Midwest Conference games. The games were originally scheduled to be played on Saturday but were moved up one day to Friday due to anticipated inclement weather on Saturday. The first game of the doubleheader starts at 3:30 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday mark the last weekend of the 2011 softball regular season.
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