Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

Wheaton, Ill. - The sixth inning proved to be a crucial rallying point on Saturday as the Wheaton College softball team came back from deficits twice  to sweep a doubleheader from Lake Forest College 9-7 and 6-5.

The Thunder improved to 9-4-1 overall while the Foresters fell to 3-7.

Game one started out quickly for the hosts. Leadoff hitter Katie Iser singled and came around to score two batters later on Lesley Guenard's RBI single to left field. Jenna Lawrenz followed up with an RBI single of her own through the right side to make it 2-0.

From then on, Wheaton's bats went silent with only one hit in the next 13 at bats. Lake Forest capitalized on the lull with one run in the second inning and two runs in each of the third, fifth and sixth innings. The Foresters looked to be comfortably in the lead at 7-2 going into the bottom of the sixth.

However, a wild bottom of the frame immediately ensued. Elizabeth Perez and Guenard opened the inning with a pair of singles, and Amanda Mattocks came through with an RBI single to right. A bases-loaded wild pitch plated Guenard and Ainsley McCullough hit an RBI groundout to make it 7-4. A high, lazy pop fly by Stacey Cladis was then dropped by the right fielder to score another runner. Shannah Morris kept the rally going with an RBI single to right center and suddenly, the score was knotted at 7-7.

With two runners on and two outs, Perez singled to the second baseman, who then threw the ball over the first baseman's head. Morris reached home plate on the errant throw and Iser used heads-up base running to motor all the way around from first to score.

With the lead recaptured at 9-7, Sarah Hammitt (2-2) finished off the seventh inning to earn the victory. She threw two innings of scoreless ball, allowing no hits and two walks with three strikeouts. McCullough started the game and went five innings, giving up nine hits, seven runs, three walks and striking out six.

Wheaton piled up 10 hits, with two hits each from Iser, Perez and Guenard.

Game two put Wheaton ahead early once again as Iser scored in the first inning. Lawrenz reached home in the second inning on a throwing error and added an RBI single in the third inning to make it 3-1.

But the lead did not hold long. In the fourth inning, Lake Forest scored a run on a fielders choice before Ashley Cuthbert launched a three-run homer to left field to make it 5-3 Foresters.

RBI groundouts from Megan Crucetti and Sarah Hammit evened up the score in the fifth inning. Once again, the sixth inning proved crucial, as Guenard stroked a hard RBI double to the left field fence that gave the Thunder back the lead.

After escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth inning, Wheaton hurler Danielle Schmidt (4-1) worked a scoreless seventh to get the win. The sophomore threw all seven innings, with seven hits, five runs, six walks and six strikeouts.

Wheaton's seven-hit attack was led by Iser with two. Lawrenz reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI.

The Thunder's homestand continues on Thursday with a 3 PM doubleheader against Beloit College.