LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Illinois College softball team maintained its one-game lead in the Midwest Conference standings after splitting with Lake Forest on Sunday at Mohr Field.
IC took the opener, 3-0, before falling, 5-4, in the nightcap.
IC is now 20-10 overall and 7-1 in Midwest Conference play. Lake Forest moved to 14-8 and 6-2.
Game 1: IC 3 LF 0
The Lady Blues would get all the runs they needed in the top of the first inning.
Shelby Seiler singled and advanced to second on a Forrester error, which enabled
Maddie Adams to score and make it 1-0 IC.
IC added a pair of insurance runs in the third,
Gabby Miller tripled to score Adams and then Seiler, who led the Lady Blues attack with two hits in the game, singled to score Miller.
The three runs were more than enough for
Jordan Closs. Closs, who improved her record to 9-4 on the season, pitched a three-hit shutout with three strikeouts to earn the victory, which was IC's seventh-straight in conference play.
Game 2: LF 5 IC 4
The Lady Blues jumped out to a three-run lead with three tallies in the second inning.
Ezzy Mauermann stroked an RBI single, and then
Cambria Currie scored on a Lake Forest wild pitch. Mauermann came home to score on that play after the Forrester throw was off the mark at the plate.
After Lake Forest cut the advantage to 3-2 with a pair of scores in the third inning, IC added another run in the fourth when Mauermann rapped a sacrifice fly to score
Elysia Hand.
The Foresters tied the game with two runs in the fourth and then scored the eventual game-winner in the fifth to hand IC its first conference loss of the season.
IC's offense had four hits in the game, a double by Hand and singles from Mauermann,
Cambria Currie, and
Bella Thien.
Currie took the loss for IC in the circle, allowing seven hits and five runs (four earned) with a strikeout in four innings of work. Closs pitched the final two scoreless, hitless innings for the Lady Blues.
Up Next
IC returns home to continue Midwest Conference play on Saturday, hosting Cornell for a doubleheader that begins at 1:00 p.m.
