The Grinnell College softball team scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings, only to give up seven runs in the top of the eighth as Lake Forest College posted an 11-4 win on the Pioneers' field Saturday, April 25.
Lake Forest then completed the sweep with an 11-3, five-inning win to take over sole possession of the Midwest Conference South Division lead. Lake Forest is now 8-3 in the league and has 12 overall points (teams get two points for beating a divisional foe and one for a non-divisional foe). Grinnell, at 6-5 in the MWC, is tied with Monmouth College with 10 points each.
Grinnell entertains Monmouth in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Sunday. If either team sweeps, it will advance to the MWC Tournament and the other team will be out. If the teams split, the team that wins the first game of the twin bill would advance via a tie-breaker.
In Saturday's opener, Lake Forest took a 1-0 lead in the first inning before Grinnell tallied two runs in the third. A wild pitch allowed Kim Durinick '09 to score, and Kelsey Montgomery '11 scored on the same play following an error. However, Lake Forest tied the game at 2-all in the fourth and took a 4-2 lead with two runs in the fifth.
In the bottom of the seventh, Brianna Gallo '11 and Hannah Ney '11 led off with infield singles before each moved up on Durinick's sacrifice. Montgomery (left) followed with a two-run single to right-center to tie the game. But that's all the closer Grinnell could get, forcing extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Lake Forest scored seven runs on six hits, including a three-run homer by Shelby Neill. Gallo (right) led Grinnell's hitting attack with three hits, while Montgomery and Amanda Stromquist had two each.
The Pioneers appeared to be in good shape in the second game when they scored three runs in the top of the first. Stromquist knocked in one run with a single to center, while Jayme Wiebold '12 added an RBI double to right-center. Lake Forest came within 3-2 in the bottom of the frame and then erupted for six runs in the third on six hits and two errors.
The Foresters added two runs in the fourth on solo homers and ended the game with a run in the fifth. Stromquist managed two of Grinnell's five hits.
Game 1
Game 2
