LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Three home runs paired with solid relief pitching fueled the Illinois Wesleyan University softball team to a pair of wins at Lake Forest College Tuesday, March 15. The Titans (3-5) outlasted the Foresters (6-6) 9-6 in game one, before completing the sweep with a 6-2 victory in the nightcap.
Junior Nina Mardjetko (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont), who pitched in relief in both games, registered both wins in the circle. She allowed just three hits over 8.2 innings, while striking out two. Mardjetko received plenty of run support from freshman
Ava Khoury (Columbia, Ill.-Columbia) and senior
Hayley Earl (Washington, Ill.-Washington). Khoury homered twice on the day with five RBI, while Earl hammered a three-run blast for her 10th career home run.
Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 9, Lake Forest 6
A two-out double by sophomore Megan Fontanetta (Arlington Heights, Ill.-Buffalo Grove) in the top of the third led to IWU's first run of the afternoon. After Lake Forest had plated one in the bottom of the first, senior
Colleen Palczynski (Mt. Prospect, Ill.-Prospect) laced an RBI single to center to even the game at 1-1.
Lake Forest answered with a run in the bottom half of the frame to reclaim the lead, but Illinois Wesleyan went right back to work in the top of the fourth. IWU used two hits and an error to manufacture a pair of runs. Freshman Alison Kern (Normal, Ill.-Normal Community) earned a two-out walk and scooted into third on freshman
Jen Kuhn's (Normal, Ill.-University High) double down the right field line. After Kern came across the plate on an error, Kuhn came around on sophomore
Bailey Turner's (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) RBI triple to put the Green and White up, 3-2.
The Titans' lead was short-lived though, as the Foresters pounced for three runs on four hits to take a 6-3 lead into the fifth.
An RBI single by Earl paired with a pair of LFC miscues made way for a pair of runs for the Titans to trim the deficit to one, 6-5.
Kuhn opened the top of the sixth with a leadoff double, and claimed third on a wild pitch. A second wild pitch, this time crashing into the backstop, saw Kuhn slide home safely to tie the game at six.
A one-out single by the Foresters was erased as Earl threw out the runner attempting to steal before a groundout sent the game to the seventh inning tied, 6-6.
Back-to-back singles by junior Madison Moore (Verona, Wis.-Edgewood) and Earl put two on with one out for Khoury. Wasting no time, Khoury lifted a first-pitch offering over the fence for a three-run home run to give Illinois Wesleyan a 9-6 lead.
Mardjetko, who went on to earn the win in the circle, tossed a 1-2-3 seventh to secure the victory.
Offensively, Khoury led the way with a 2-for-3 effort that included three RBI. Palczynski, Earl, and Kuhn also picked up multi-hit games with two apiece, while Palczynski, Earl, and Turner notched an RBI each. As a team, the Titans cranked out 12 hits to the Foresters 11, including five extra base knocks.
Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan 6, Lake Forest 2
Junior Mikayla Fairfield (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) kept the Titans rolling in the nightcap, beginning the game with a leadoff single. After a sacrifice bunt moved the junior outfielder into scoring position, Palcyznski ripped a single to center to give IWU an early edge, 1-0. Moore and Earl followed with walks, but a pitching change kept the Titans from plating anymore.
After Lake Forest used a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to charge ahead, 2-1, Illinois Wesleyan responded with a long ball of its own in the third frame.
Palczynski led the inning off with a double to left center and Moore walked to put two aboard with nobody out. Earl cleared the bases with her 10th career round-tripper, a three-run shot, to reclaim a 4-2 Titan lead through two and a half.
Lake Forest appeared poised to even the score in the bottom of the fifth, bringing the tying run to the plate. A leadoff walk and a single put two on with one out for the Foresters, but Mardjetko induced a ground ball that Turner turned for two to escape the inning unscathed.
Singling with two outs in the top of the seventh, Earl kept the inning alive for Khoury, who blasted her second homer of the day. Khoury smacked her team-leading third HR of the season out to right for two crucial insurance runs to up Illinois Wesleyan's lead to 6-2.
Mardjetko closed the door in the seventh, pitching around a single, to complete the sweep.
The Titans pounded out 11 hits to the Foresters five, as Fairfield, Palczynski, Earl, Kern, and Turner tallied two hits each.
Illinois Wesleyan returns to action at the Transylvania Tournament this weekend, March 19-20, in Elizabethtown, Ky. IWU will take on Hanover and Muskingum Saturday, March 19, at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. EST, respectively. The Titans will then tangle with Trine at 10 a.m. EST and Transy at 12:30 p.m. EST Sunday, March 20.
