Game One - St. Norbert 5, Monmouth 4 [Box Score]
St. Norbert jumped out to an early lead and held on late to defeat Monmouth in the first game of the 2011 Midwest Conference Softball Tournament in Ripon, Wis. St. Norbert scored four runs in the first four innings and fended off the Fighting Scots who scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Green Knights scored a run in each the first and second innings off the bats of Kristin Zimmerman and Abby Van Straten to take a 2-0 lead. In the first inning Brittany Nagrges reached with a one out single and was driven home on a double to the center field by Zimmerman to open up the scoring. Pinch runner Emily Rhode scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Van Straten to increase the lead.
St. Norbert pushed two runs in the fourth inning when Steph Brunette tripled to center field to score Ashtin Schmechel and Van Straten.
Monmouth got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning, but St. Norbert matched that run in the top of the sixth to set up a dramatic finish. Monmouth struck with one out in the bottom of the seventh with four straight hitters reaching base. After two runs scored, Caitlin Lingle singled through the right side to score Lauren Bergstresser which also left the bases loaded and the tying run on third base. Kari Corbeille closed the door getting Kelsey Barnes to ground out for the final out of the game.
Bergstresser led the Fighting Scots with three hits and two RBI while Lingle picked up two hits in four at bats with a run driven in. Morgan Werkheiser took the loss pitching five innings, yielding three earned runs and striking out three.
Kristin Zimmerman went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI to lead the Green Knights. Kaya Krueger and Van Straten picked up two hits each to fuel the St. Norbert offense. Krueger also picked up the win, going 6.1 innings and striking out four.
Game Two – Ripon 3, Lake Forest 2 [Box Score]
Ripon and Lake Forest played in a back-and-forth game with Ripon coming out on top during game two. Stephanie Rieuwpassa tossed a two-hitter and the Red Hawks scored the game winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning to advance on the winner’s side.
Ripon jumped on the board quickly in the bottom of the first inning. After Rieuwpassa was hit by a pitch she advanced to third on a single and a sacrifice and scored on a Cassie Bilotto ground out to the shortstop.
Rieuwpassa held the Foresters at bay until the fifth inning when they scratched two runs across the plate to take the lead. With one out Gore singled through the right side and advanced to second on a passed ball followed by a walk to Zender. A sacrifice bunt advanced both Gore and Zender up a base before both runners scored on passed balls to give Lake Forest a 2-1 lead.
Ripon answered right back in bottom of the fifth inning. Crystal Burke laced a leadoff single to left field and was sacrificed to second base two batters later. Alli Jensen would reach base via error placing the tying run on third base with two outs. Bilotto and Beth Ebben produced back-to-back singles to score Burke and Jensen to give the Red Hawks the final lead of the day.
Rieuwpassa shut down the Foresters in the sixth and seventh for her 11th win of the season. She struck out eight and only walked two in seven innings of work. Burke was the only Red Hawk to have multiple hits, with two, and Bilotto drove in two runs to advance Ripon.
Leslie Harshey and Gore picked up the only hits for Lake Forest while Molly Thomsen was tagged with the loss after pitching 4.2 innings and striking out one.
Game Three – Monmouth 9, Lake Forest 1 [Box Score]
Lake Forest became the first team bounced from the MWC Tournament after a 9-1 defeat to Monmouth in five innings. The Fighting Scots scored runs in every inning and churned out 12 hits in the victory, their 22nd of the season.
Monmouth scored three runs in the opening frame and would need no more in the win. The first three batters of the inning reached base and all scored to set the tone. Bergstresser triple to deep centerfield to start the game and scored on a Creen single. One batter later Krueger deposited the ball past the left field fence for the 3-0 lead.
Monmouth continued to display their offense scoring single runs in the second and third innings on Creen RBI double and Twohill RBI triple. Monmouth scored a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to put the game out of reach. In the Fighting Scots fifth inning Barnes led off with a double to right field followed by Twohill getting hit by a pitch. Diaz then doubled both runners in to round out the scoring.
Chesnut picked up the loss for Lake Forest yielding three runs and not being able to retire a batter. Kavanagh and Gore each picked up two hits and Titsema scored the only run for the Foresters after she singled and scored in the third inning.
Creen was a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate, also scoring two runs, while Bergstresser and and Twohill also chipping in two hits. Morgan Werkheiser picked up the win in 2.2 innings pitch, only giving up two hits and striking out one.
Game Four - Ripon 8, St. Norbert 3 [Box Score]
Ripon advances to the second day of the tournament with no losses after a convincing 8-3 win over St. Norbert on Friday afternoon in Ripon, Wis. Ripon will await the winner of the St. Norbert and Monmouth game which is set to take place at 10:00 a.m.
The Red Hawks broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a pair of runs. After Stephanie Rieuwpassa and Alli Jensen reached base Beth Ebben single them both home with a two out single up the middle to give the host a two run lead.
Ripon padded their lead with a single run in the fifth inning when Amber Schultz scored on a Rieuwpassa single. St. Norbert wasted no time with a quick strike in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jessica Kropp deposited a pitch to left field to score two runs and slash the Ripon lead to only one.
Ripon left no doubt in the next half inning as they put a five spot up on the Green Knights to push their lead to six and move to 2-0 on the day. The inning was highlighted by a two RBI single from Alli Jensen to score Boswell and Rieuwpassa.
Brittnee Peotter picked up her 12th win of the season going a full seven innings, scattering eight hits and striking out five. The Red Hawks had four players record muliple hits including Rieuwpassa, Jensen, Peotter and Robinson.
Kropp collected two hits for St. Norbert and drove in two runs while Kari Corbeille also had two hits in the loss. Corbeille took the defeat on the mound pitching 6.1 innings, giving up seven earned runs and striking out three.
St. Norbert will face off against Monmouth in the second elimination game at 10 a.m. with the winner taking on Ripon at 12 p.m. in hopes to force a final, and deciding, championship game at 2 p.m. A win by Ripon at the 12 p.m. game will crown them MWC Tournament Champions in the double elimination tournament.