Galesburg, IL – Lake Forest College won both games of a doubleheader against the Prairie Fire on Sunday, but it didn’t come easy.

The Foresters rallied from three runs down to defeat Knox 6-3 in the opener before posting a 13-5 victory in the finale.

The Prairie Fire (3-13, 2-4 MWC South) were trying to get to their final at bat tied at 3-3 with a chance to win the first game when Lake Forest foiled the plan in the top of the seventh inning.  The Foresters scored three runs on a home run with two outs and then prevented Knox from scoring in the bottom of the seventh to post the victory.

The Prairie Fire took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when sophomore Kayla Behrens (Moline, IL, Moline) drove in a run with a double and later scored on a wild pitch.  Knox extended the lead to 3-0 on an RBI single by junior Alyssa Bleidorn (Batavia, IL, Batavia) in the bottom of the third inning. 

Lake Forest (9-9, 4-0 MWC South) held the Prairie Fire scoreless over the remaining four innings and chipped away at the deficit.

The Foresters trimmed the Knox lead to 3-1 with a run in the top of the fourth inning followed by two more runs in the sixth to tie the contest at 3-3.

Lake Forest outhit the Prairie Fire 11-7. 

Junior Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington), who pitched well aside from her difficulties in the seventh inning, was charged with the loss to drop to 1-6 on the season.  She went the distance for Knox and allowed five earned runs, 11 hits, one walk and struck out one.

The Foresters jumped out to a big lead in the second game and never looked back.

Lake Forest scored two runs in the first inning and plated five in the third for a 7-0 lead.  The Prairie Fire responded with two runs in the bottom of the third.  Sophomore Rhiannon Neuville (Eugene, OR, South Eugene) scored on an error after Eisha singled for the first Knox run.  Behrens drove in Eisha with a sacrifice fly to center field to pull the hosts within 7-2.

The Foresters added two runs in the fourth inning and two in the sixth to build their lead to 11-2.

The Prairie Fire refused to go away, responding with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Bleidorn scored the first run on an infield error, junior Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Country Day) drove in the next run on an RBI groundout, and junior Avecena Hollingsworth (Tigard, OR, Tigard) added a run-scoring single to cut the LFC advantage to 11-5.

Lake Forest concluded the scoring with two runs in the top of the seventh inning.

The Foresters banged out 16 hits in the game while Knox had eight.  Bleidorn was 3-for-3 at the plate and scored a run for the Prairie Fire.

First-year pitcher Karli Shields (Naperville, IL, Neuqua Valley) took the loss.  Lake Forest touched Shields (1-4) up for seven earned runs and seven hits in three innings. 

Knox tries to end a four-game slide during a non-conference doubleheader at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois on April 9.  The first game is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.

The Highlanders (3-14) entered Sunday’s doubleheader at Stephens College (MO) on a seven-game losing streak.

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