Cornell’s softball team was two outs away from handing Midwest Conference leader Lake Forest its first league loss in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader at Mohr Field.
The Rams were shut out in the opener, 5-0, and then had a seven-run lead slip away in the late innings of a tough 10-9 loss in Game 2.
Cornell moved to 6-17 overall, 4-4 in the MWC. The Foresters (18-10 overall) remained perfect in MWC play at 10-0.
The Rams built an 8-1 lead through four innings in Game 2. Cornell took control with a seven-run third frame, keyed by a two-RBI hit by Miranda Keith and a three-run triple from Erin Puck.
The Foresters charged back and got within 9-8 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Lake Forest put runners at second and third with one out when Kaylee Purgatori finished the comeback with a game-winning triple.
Keith and Puck had three RBIs apiece to lead Cornell’s lineup, which totaled 10 hits. Addie Bowman went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs. Marissa Faletti also scored twice.
Only three of Lake Forest’s 10 runs were earned against pitchers Alyssa Pearson and Skylar McCartney-Puzio. Pearson gave up five runs (one earned) over 4.1 innings.
Pearson pitched all six innings in Game 1. The junior kept the Rams close, trailing 3-0 through five innings.
Olivia Richards went 2-for-3 with a double for the Rams, who were limited to four hits.
Earlier in the week, the Rams had a tough opening loss to Beloit 14-6, but came back with a 17-5 win against the Bucs in game 2.
Sophomore shortstop Sydni Coleman launched a towering grand slam into the night sky well beyond the left-field fence that punctuated the 17-5 Game 2 win.
The deep blast was Coleman’s first homer as a Ram and among Cornell’s 30 hits in the Midwest Conference doubleheader.
Coleman added a double and finished with six RBIs in the Game 2 rout which had Cornell’s lineup account for 18 hits, seven going for extra bases. Claire Gugerty slugged a three-run homer down the left-field line that pushed Cornell ahead 11-3 in the top of the third.
Sophomore Caitlin Babcock went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three runs and three RBIs. Addie Bowman was 3-for-4, while Marissa Faletti, Miranda Keith and Erin Puck provided two hits apiece. Faletti scored four times from the leadoff spot in the lineup.
Junior Alyssa Pearson (4-7) earned the complete-game win in the pitching circle. The left-hander allowed seven hits and struck out two.
Cornell’s only lapse of the night happened in the first inning of Game 1, when Beloit put 10 runs on the scoreboard before the Rams recorded an out. The young Rams settled in from there, although couldn’t overcome the early 10-0 deficit.
Keith and Olivia Richards had two doubles apiece to pace Cornell’s 12-hit attack. Keith finished with three RBIs. Faletti and Puck each had two hits.