GALESBURG, Illinois - The Knox Prairie Fire Softball team dropped a pair of conference games this afternoon against Lake Forest College falling 14-0 and 15-2. 

In the first game, both teams battled it out for the first two innings, but none could break the tie early on. The Foresters struck first in the third inning batting in five runs. Lake Forest kept this momentum going as they scored four runs in the fourth inning, and five more runs in the fifth inning. Maya McEwen, Maddie Hicks, and Kylie Thomson tried to kickstart a Knox comeback but ultimately came up short. 

In game two, we saw an action-packed first inning. The Foresters batted in three runs at the top of the first inning. The Prairie Fire quickly responded in the bottom of the first inning off of a single from Londyn Nelson. With amazing baserunning from Maddie Poetzinger and Liv Dunn, Knox was able to bring in two runs off of Nelson's single. Lake Forest responded with two runs of their own in the second inning. After scoring one more run in the fourth inning and nine more runs in the fifth inning, the Foresters closed out the Prairie Fire in the fifth inning.

McEwen and Hicks led the way for the Prairie Fire today with three hits a piece. 

"Lake Forest is a tough team, they've got some big bats," said interim head coach Casey Hipp. "We are making good contact, but just leaving too many runners stranded. We are taking today as a learning opportunity and looking onward to Beloit tomorrow."

The Prairie Fire will look to bounce back tomorrow during senior day against conference opponent Beloit College. The doubleheader tomorrow afternoon starts at 1 pm and 3 pm.