Carthage 7, Lake Forest 0
Lake Forest 15, Carthage 14
The Carthage College softball team (7-9, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) split a Wednesday, March 30 doubleheader with Lake Forest College (4-8) at the Lake Forest Softball Field in Lake Forest, Ill. Carthage won the first game, 7-0, before losing the nightcap, 15-14.
In the opening game, Carthage scored runs in the first and second innings and two in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Kari Peterson hit an RBI-double in the second innings and Jen Precht an RBI-double in the third. The Lady Reds added three more runs in the sixth, two on a home run by Vicki Pyan. Krystina Leazer (So., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 7-2) was the winning pitcher. Leazer allowed no runs on six hits and no walks, while striking out 11 batters. Kelly Chestnut (2-3) took the loss. Jen Precht (So., Antioch, Ill./Community) went three-for-three with an RBI, and Kari Peterson (Sr., Blooming Prairie, Minn.) had two doubles in four trip to the plate with two RBI.
The first inning of the nightcap turned into a nightmare, as the Foresters set a Carthage game record by scoring 11 times in the inning. Sam Ritsema led off the game with a solo home run off starting pitcher Alyssa Schrader. Aubrey Pendegraft, the number-three hitter followed with another solo shot. Tricia O'Keefe replaced Schrader on the hill, and O'Keefe's fourth batter, Clare Kavanagh hit a three-run homer. Lake Forest totaled 11 hits in the inning. Never say die, however, as Carthage whittled away at the lead and trailed by three, 11-8, in the fifth. The Foresters scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to make it 13-8, but the Lady Reds came up with five runs in the sixth to tie the game, 13-13. The sixth inning started with a dropped foul ball by Lake Forest catcher Danielle Gore that would come back to haunt the Foresters, as Carthage scored all five runs with two outs. Kari Peterson hit a two-run double to cap the sixth-inning rally.
The Lady Reds took their first lead of the game, 14-13, in the top of the seventh on an RBI-double by Krystina Leazer. Lake Forest scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to win the game, 15-14. Sammie Zender scored the tying on a wild pitch, and Ashley Cuthbert singled home the game-winning run. Cami Daun (2-3), the second Foresters pitcher, picked up the win, despite giving up seven runs on nine hits over three and one-third innings. Cuthbert and Sam Ritsema each went four-for-five with two RBI. Krystina Leazer (So., Des Plaines, Ill./Elk Grove, 7-2), the third Lady Reds hurler, took the loss. Leazer surrendered seven runs, four earned, on nine hits over six innings. Kari Peterson (Sr., Blooming Prairie, Minn.) went three-for-four with a double and two RBI, while Leazer went three-for-five with a double, a triple and three RBI. Carthage opens its CCIW-schedule on Saturday, April 2 by playing host to North Park University in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at the Carthage Softball Field in Kenosha, Wis.
