Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
 
GRINNELL, Iowa – Midwest Conference (MWC) Softball Champion Lake Forest College is set to host another MWC Tournament this Friday and Saturday with a rainy week forcing Friday’s games to be moved to Heritage Park Sports Complex in Wheeling, Illinois. The double elimination tournament will continue on Saturday at Lake Forest with the champion earning the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
With two available fields at Heritage Park, the first two games of the tournament will both start at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. One game will feature the host Foresters against No. 4 Grinnell College with No. 2 Illinois College facing No. 3 St. Norbert College. Find the full schedule at the tournament page.
 
The 2019 regular season nearly ended with a four-way tie for the conference championship but Lake Forest rebounded from an 11-1 loss to Lawrence University to defeat the Vikings 10-1 in game two to win its second consecutive title with a 14-4 record. Behind the Foresters, Illinois College, St. Norbert, and Grinnell all finished at 13-5 with head-to-head results determining the seeding.
 
Lake Forest and Grinnell last played almost a month ago with the teams splitting a pair of 5-3 games. Grinnell scored early, in the middle, and late in its 5-3 win over the Foresters in game one. Freshman shortstop Maddie Matsubara led the Pioneers as she went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.

In game two, the Foresters needed a four run seventh inning comeback to split the series. Down 3-1, Rylie Frisbie led off the seventh with a home run to cut the deficit to one then three batters later Alyssa Grimm delivered the game-winning hit as she drove in two with a single through the right side.
 
On the mound, the Foresters Kyra Lenzi allowed just two earned runs on six hits as she pitched all seven innings. Darice Wheeler also earned a complete game win in game one as she matched Lenzi’s line of two earned runs and six hits. Lenzi did not lose a conference game all season as she went 5-0 and recorded the league’s third lowest earned run average at 1.70 and the second lowest opponent batting average of .229. Wheeler, a six game winner, struck out 50 in 57.2 innings of work this season.
 
Those two will face two of the conference’s top four lineups as the Pioneers led the league with 120 runs scored while the Foresters were fourth at 105. They also hit for a similar average in conference play with Lake Forest recording a batting average of .333 and Grinnell just behind at .331. For the second year in a row, a freshman led the Pioneers as Matsubara hit .492 with a league best 31 hits. The shortstop also slugged .810 with three triples and eight doubles in MWC play.
 
At the top of Lake Forest’s lineup, Maria Zepeda set the table for the rest of the Forester hitters as she walked ten times and collected 23 hits for a .563 on base percentage and scored 15 runs in MWC play. Following Zepeda, Alyssa Grimm drove in 17 runs with a team high four home runs.
 
The winner will play the winner of Illinois College and St. Norbert at 3:00 p.m. Friday while the loser will look to avoid elimination at 1:00 p.m. The Lady Blues advanced to the championship game last season where they fell to Cornell College. This year Illinois College faces 2017 champion St. Norbert in its first game of the tournament as the Green Knights return to the postseason after a one-year hiatus.
 
The Lady Blues and Green Knights also met in the regular season nearly a month ago, and like most of the series between the playoff teams, split the series. St. Norbert took game one 5-1 by scoring a single run in each of the last four innings. Leadoff hitter Brianna Braeger was involved in three of the four runs as she singled in two and drew a bases loaded walk for the third.

Illinois College had trouble with Braeger all series as the Lady Blues only got her out three times in nine plate appearances as she went 5-for-8 with a walk. The centerfielder was one of the top hitters in the league as she posted a line of .492/.508/.651 in conference play. Pitcher Emma Molenhouse had one of her best outings of the season as she allowed only the one run while scattering nine hits in the complete game victory.
 
Illinois College responded with ace Sydney Hood in game two where the freshman delivered a one run, six hit, four strikeout, seven-inning performance. Hood was arguably the top pitcher in the conference in her first season. She led the league in conference wins (7), ERA (1.07), and opposing batting average (.197) while striking out the third most batters at 53.

On offense, three-hole hitter Savanna Brady went 3-for-4 with an RBI and run to lead the Lady Blues to a 4-1 game two win. The lineup also boasts the conference’s best player at getting on base in Sam Seggerman who posted an on base percentage of .593 in MWC play.
 
Play begins Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Heritage Park Sports Complex in Wheeling, Illinois. The full schedule, results, and address for the complex can be found on the tournament page.