St. Norbert Splits on First Day of MWC Tournament

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, May 3, 2019 | Softball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

WHEELING, Ill. - St. Norbert College split its first two games at the Midwest Conference Tournament at Heritage Park, beating Illinois College 6-0 before losing 9-4 to Lake Forest College.

The Green Knights (22-16) will face Grinnell College in an elimination game at 10 a.m. Saturday. The winner must then beat Lake Forest (23-15) twice to earn the MWC Tournament championship.

St. Norbert rode the pitching of Emma Molenhouse to the win in the opener. Molenhouse twirled a three-hitter while walking just one and striking out three. The Lady Blues had just one baserunner reach third base.

The Green Knights broke through with two runs in the fourth inning. Ashley Zimmerman started the frame with a solo home run. With one out Alyssa Sikora doubled. After an out and an infield single by Molenhouse, pinch-runner Carmen Yost scored on an error on a double-steal attempt. Those runs would hold up until St. Norbert broke it open with a four-run sixth inning. Randi Morack had an RBI grounder, followed by a Brianna Braeger run-scoring single. Morack scored on an error and Carley Frauenhoff added an RBI single to round out the rally.

St. Norbert, which had nine hits, was led by Braeger's 3-for-3 showing.

Against Lake Forest, Zimmerman smacked a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning to give St. Norbert a quick 2-0 lead. The Foresters got a run back in the second inning, and the score would remain 2-1 after five innings. Lake Forest then parlayed six hits into six runs in the top of the sixth inning to take control. The Green Knights could get to within 8-4 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a Zimmerman RBI single and a Morgan Moxon RBI grounder, but would get no closer. Lake Forest picked up two insurance runs in the seventh inning.

Zimmerman finished 2-for-3 with three runs batted in, while Sikora was 2-for-3 and Allison Knop was 2-for-4 with a triple. Lake Forest had 13 hits, with eight going for extra bases.