May 20, 2002
EAU CLAIRE, Wis.—Stellar relief pitching from freshman Abbey Pelot and an opportunistic play by sophomore infielder Kerri Barber helped hold Lake Forest scoreless as the Bombers won the program’s first national championship.
Pelot entered the game with a runner on second and one out in the fifth inning. She picked up the last five outs to earn her first save of the season.
Barber’s alert play kept the Foresters off the board in the sixth. With Ithaca holding a 1-0 lead Lake Forest put a runner on second. The next batter hit a ground ball to Barber which she bobbled, allowing the batter to reach first; Barber recovered in time to trap the runner from second in a rundown and the Bombers tagged her out. Lake Forest’s next hitter singled to left – a hit that could easily have tied the game if not for Barber’s play.
Ithaca scored the game’s only run in the second, when the Bombers collected their only three hits of the game. Senior outfielder Mairin Dudek singled in sophomore outfielder Kim Stephens, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
Junior Abby Hanrahan earned the win (her eighth of the postseason and 22nd overall) by throwing 5.1 innings of three-hit shutout ball.
Lake Forest put a runner on base with two outs in the seventh, but the Foresters were unable to score.
The Bombers had never won a game in their four previous trips to the NCAA Division III Championship finals (an eight-team double-elimination tournament that crowns the sport's national champion) before going 4-1 at the 2002 event, winning three times by a score of 1-0. Senior catcher Kristin Furdon, scored the only run in two of those wins.
Barber, Furdon and Hanrahan were all named to the all-tournament team.
R H E
Lake Forest 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 0
Ithaca 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 3 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
R |
H |
E |
| Lake Forest |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
0 |
5 |
0 |
| Ithaca |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
x |
- |
1 |
3 |
1 |
E — Barber (I).
LOB — Lake Forest 7; Ithaca 3.
2B — Kuludrovic (LF).
|
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
| Ferguson (LF), L |
6.0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Hanrahan (I), W |
5.1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
| Pelot (I), S |
1.2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
T-1:20.
A-150
