2003 Softball - Results and Game Summaries

May 3 at MWC Championship Tournament, Appleton, WI
Monmouth 3, St. Norbert 1 
Monmouth 5, Lake Forest 2
Lake Forest 9, Monmouth 8 (22-14-1)
On a day when the Fighting Scots established a school record for victories and defeated last year's national runner-up, disappointment was still the reigning sentiment, as Monmouth let a golden chance to advance to the national tournament slip away. In the deciding championship game against Lake Forest, the Scots jumped out to a 5-0 lead and still led 8-5 entering the bottom of the seventh. A bases loaded walk by Shelly Orwig brought in the first run, and Heather Burrows, who had started the game, came back in to pitch. She allowed an RBI single to make the score 8-7, but then got a strikeout. However, LFC's Jen Thomason stroked a game-winning double, giving Lake Forest its second straight MWC title at Monmouth's expense. The gut-wrenching ending spoiled a day that had been all Monmouth to that point. Orwig and Burrows combined for a four-hitter in the opener, with Rachel Webster going 2-for-3. Monmouth was able to force a second championship game against LFC by beating the winner's bracket champions behind a complete game from Burrows, who tied the single-season school record with her 12th victory. Michelle Meyer was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Webster belted a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh. In the finale, Webster and Nicole Auclair each homered and drove in three runs, but the Scots couldn't seal the deal. Webster finished the five-game tournament with 9 hits in 16 at-bats, three homers and nine RBI and Burrows pitched in all five games, allowing just five earned runs in 19.2 innings. 

May 2 at MWC Championship Tournament, Appleton, WI
Monmouth 7, St. Norbert 6 
Lake Forest 1, Monmouth 0 (20-13-1)
The second day of the MWC playoffs will begin just as the first day did, with Monmouth and St. Norbert meeting for a 10 a.m. game. This time, the stakes will be a little higher, as the winner will advance to the championship game against Lake Forest and the loser will go home. The Fighting Scots were 1-1 in Friday's action, avenging an April loss to the Green Knights in the tourney opener. Heather Burrows saved the win for Shelly Orwig, stranding the tying run at second in the sixth and going on to retire SNC in the seventh. Michelle Courchane started the game's scoring in the second, tripling in a run and coming home on Cassie Gulley's RBI grounder. As part of her 3-for-3 performance, Rachel Webster blasted a two-run homer to give the Scots a 7-2 lead. Burrows then took the hill against Lake Forest and pitched superbly, allowing just a run in the first inning. But that run, which was scored by Nancy Findeisen, was costly, as Findeisen made it stand up, tossing a four-hit shutout. Nicole Auclair had two of MC's hits, including a leadoff double in the fourth that represented the Scots' best scoring chance.

April 27 vs. Illinois College, Monmouth, IL
Monmouth 8, Illinois College 0
Monmouth 7, Illinois College 0 (19-12-1)
You can call the 2003 Fighting Scots Southern Division Champions. Needing a split with Illinois College to qualify for next weekend's MWC Championships, the Scots did one better and swept the Lady Blues without allowing a run to win the title outright. Heather Burrows surrendered just three hits in the opener to collect her 11th victory of the year and Shelly Orwig fanned 10 IC batters to pick up win No. 7. Rachel Webster  provided the offense in Game One with a 3-for-3 performance driving in five runs, two on a first-inning homer. Michelle Meyer picked up three hits in the opener and Michelle Courchane collected a pair of safeties. The Scots exploded for five runs in the third inning of the nightcap when their first four batters reached. Stephanie Smith picked up two hits and two RBI while Vanessa Madison added two hits. The Scots will travel to Appleton, Wis., Friday and Saturday for the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament.

April 26 vs. Eureka College, Monmouth, IL
Monmouth 7, Eureka 0
Monmouth 2, Eureka 1 (17-12-1)
It seems like a nine-day vacation has rejuvenated the Fighting Scots as Monmouth College took the field for the first time since Apr. 7 and swept the visiting Eureka Red Devils 7-0 and 2-1. Fighting Scots pitchers came up big in both games, but their heroics were at the plate. In the opener, the Scots posted five runs in the second inning, the first two on starting pitcher Heather Burrows' triple. Burrows, Carrie Gerardi, Stephanie Smith and Cassie Gulley collected two hits apiece. Burrows picked up her tenth win of the year, scattering six hits. Michelle Courchane notched the first win of her collegiate career in her first start, a 2-1 thriller in the nightcap. After Monmouth posted a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Eureka countered with a solo run in the top of the second and the score remained tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the seventh. With two out, Courchane took matters into her own hands, tripling to right center. Pinch-hitter Michelle Meyer then singled Courchane in to complete the sweep.

April 17 at Lake Forest College,  Lake Forest, IL
Lake Forest 9, Monmouth 1
Lake Forest 6, Monmouth 0 (15-12-1)
Playing in cold temperatures and steady drizzle, the Fighting Scots found tough sledding in the first game of their double header with defending conference champion Lake Forest. The Scots were unable to take advantage of six Forester errors as Shelly Orwig suffered the loss, allowing the Foresters seven runs in the first two innings. Orwig then settled in as LFC could manage just two runs the rest of the way. A fourth inning leadoff home run by Carrie Gerardi posted the lone Scots run and Stephanie Smith went three-for-three. Lake Forest pounded out 13 hits in the nightcap in a 6-0 win over the Scots, giving Heather Burrows her sixth loss of the year against nine wins. Burrows held the Foresters scoreless until the fifth when they plated two unearned runs. Despite the sweep, the Scots still lead the division by four points.

April 15 at Grinnell College,  Grinnell, IA
Monmouth 13, Grinnell 1
Monmouth 2, Grinnell 1 (15-10-1, 8-1)
Make no mistake about it, the Fighting Scots mean business. The team picked up two big conference wins on the road, in the process defeating the unofficial champion of last week's MWC Crossover Classic. Nursing a 4-1 lead into the sixth inning of game one, Monmouth erupted for nine runs on just three hits. After the first three batters reached on an error, a fielder's choice and a walk, Vanessa Madison singled in two runs to open the floodgates and put the game out of reach. Shelly Orwig surrendered just three hits in notching her sixth victory of the year. Michelle Meyer picked up three hits and three RBIs in the contest while Madison and Stephanie Smith each collected two hits and two RBIs. In the nightcap, Heather Burrows matched Orwig's performance, tossing a three-hitter as the Scots completed the sweep. Nicole Auclair plated Cassie Gulley with the winning run after Gulley led off the sixth with a double and reached third on an error. Meyer picked up two more hits in the nightcap and Carrie Gerardi continued her hot streak from the weekend with a pair of safeties.

April 13 at MWC Crossover Classic, Janesville, WI
St. Norbert 4, Monmouth 2
Monmouth 6, Beloit 4
Monmouth 2, Carroll 0 (13-10-1, 6-1)
There was good news and bad news at the MWC Crossover Classic over the weekend. The good news was that Monmouth showed it could play against any Northern Division team, winning four games and only losing one, a tough 4-2 decision against St. Norbert. The bad news was that the MWC South proved it had four solid teams, and only two will qualify for the league's postseason tournament. Grinnell checked in as top squad, winning all five of its games, while Lake Forest joined Monmouth at 4-1 and Knox posted a 3-2 record. Wins at the Classic were worth one point in the league standings, while intradivisional victories are worth two points apiece. Monmouth is the current leader with eight points, but neither Grinnell nor Lake Forest has played any games against South Division teams. As far as action on the field Sunday, Rachel Webster hit her second home run of the weekend, a leadoff, inside-the-park shot in the bottom of the sixth, to provide a key insurance run in Shelly Orwig's shutout against Carroll. The other MC run came on Nicole Auclair's pinch-hit single. Orwig allowed five hits and struck out eight. Against Beloit, Carrie Gerardi was the star, going 4-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs. Orwig suffered her only loss in the first game of the day, yielding three runs in the first to St. Norbert. Webster tripled in a run and scored herself in the bottom of the seventh, but the Scots' comeback from a 4-0 deficit fell two runs short.

April 12 at MWC Crossover Classic, Janesville, WI
Monmouth 3, Lawrence 0
Monmouth 6, Ripon 1 (11-9-1, 4-0)
Shelly Orwig picked up where she left off Thursday, blanking Lawrence on two hits and four walks in the Fighting Scots' opening game of the two-day, five-game conference event. Rachel Webster homered and Cassie Gulley and Michelle Meyer had RBI singles. In the nightcap, both teams were scoreless until the Scots plated five runs in the top of the sixth. Gulley's two-run single capped the rally. Heather Burrows earned the win.

April 10 vs. Knox College, Monmouth, IL
Monmouth 5, Knox 4
Monmouth 8, Knox 0 (9-9-1, 2-0)
The Scots head to Wisconsin Saturday to play five MWC games in two days, and they'll go into that action on a winning note after sweeping their conference-opening doubleheader with Knox. In the opener, Michelle Courchane caught a fly ball in right field and threw to second base to double off the runner, ending the game and stranding the tying run at third. Heather Burrows picked up the win, and Michelle Meyer was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. In the nightcap, pitcher Shelly Orwig was in the zone, hurling five innings of one-hit ball before Courchane finished up. She set down the first nine batters she faced, and retired 15 of 16 altogether. Orwig struck out the side in the third inning and finished with eight Ks. Her main run support came from Vanessa Madison, who was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Cari Goff, who had a two-run single in the sixth.

April 2 vs. Illinois Wesleyan University, Monmouth, IL
IWU 9, Monmouth 1, 6 innings
IWU 4, Monmouth 3 (7-9-1)
Trailing 3-0 and down to their final strike, the visitors rallied to send the Scots to a heartbreaking defeat in the nightcap. Heather Burrows, who pitched all 13 innings on the day due to the unavailability of Shelly Orwig, nearly had a shutout, but a two-out, two-strike bloop single drove in a run and kept the bases loaded for IWU's next batter, who lined a bases-clearing double to right center. The Scots scored all their runs in the second on an RBI single by Cassie Gulley and a two-run base hit by Michelle Meyer. In the opener, the Titans broke open a 3-1 game by scoring six times in the top of the sixth. Monmouth's lone run came on an RBI single by Elizabeth Hudnall.

March 30 vs. Augustana College, Monmouth, IL
Augustana 4, Monmouth 3, 8 innings
Monmouth 5, Augustana 4  (7-7-1)
You couldn't have asked for two more entertaining games on a Sunday afternoon as the Fighting Scots and the Vikings split their twinbill. In the opener, Augustana took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh and saw their lead evaporate when pinch-hitter Allison Douglas and designated player Liz Sunday each drove in a run to tie the game at 3-3. Augustana won the game with an unearned run in the eighth. Shelly Orwig suffered the loss despite allowing just two earned runs. The nightcap proved to be another heart-stopper. Augustana led 4-0 after their first at-batm but the Scots scored three in the first, pushed two more across in the sixth and hung on for the win. Winning pitcher Heather Burrows helped her cause with a pair of RBIs in the decisive sixth, driving in Cassie Gulley and Elizabeth Hudnall.

March 26 vs. Aurora University, Monmouth, IL
Monmouth 7, Aurora 1
Monmouth 4, Aurora 4, tie (6-6-1)
What started out as a beautiful spring afternoon to "play two" ended with dark skies and intermittent showers that forced the nightcap of the twinbill to be called by darkness with the teams heading into extra innings. In the opener, the rain started pouring and the Scots started scoring. Already dominant defensively behind five no-hit innings from starter Shelly Orwig, the Scots' offense revved up during what would prove to be the first of several showers. The production was highlighted by Michelle Courchane's two-run triple, and Monmouth also received two hits apiece from Rachel Webster and Vanessa Madison. Aurora finally reached Orwig in the sixth for three hits and a walk to score their only run. Monmouth jumped out to a 4-0 lead through three innings of the second game, as Madison and Elizabeth Hudnall had run-scoring doubles. But Aurora chipped away against starter Heather Burrows, scoring a run in each of the next four frames, including the game-tying tally after the Spartans were down to their final out.

March 23 at Simpson Classic, Indianola, IA
Wartburg 2, Monmouth 0
Simpson 4, Monmouth 1 (5-6)
The second day of the Simpson Classic saw no late inning heroics for the Fighting Scots. Wartburg made solo runs in the second and third innings hold up in a 2-0 defeat of Monmouth in the opener. The Scots could muster just seven hits in the game. Designated hitter Liz Sunday collected nearly half the MC hits going three-for-three. In the nightcap, host Simpson posted single runs in the first two innings of a 4-1 win. Shelly Orwig was saddled with the loss while striking out a season-high seven batters. Michelle Courchane drove in Melissa Brown with the lone Monmouth run in the bottom of the seventh. Brown was pinch-running for Vanessa Madison who led off the inning with a double.

March 22 at Simpson Classic, Indianola, IA
Monmouth 7, Lakeland 1
Monmouth 4, Gustavus Adolphus 3 (5-4)
For the second time in this young season, Vanessa Madison contributed a game-winning hit in the seventh inning to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Madison's heroics came in Monmouth's second game of the day, which they trailed 3-0 entering the top of the seventh. Four walks loaded the bases and brought a runner in, and Madison then cleared all the runners with a go-ahead three-run double. Shelly Orwig then retired Gustavus Adolphus in order in the bottom of the frame for her first victory of the year. Heather Burrows starred in the opener, yielding just two hits, a walk and an unearned run. Carrie Gerardi supported her with two hits and three RBIs.

March 14 at Ft. Myers, FL
Drew 3, Monmouth 2
Monmouth 6, Salve Regina 3 (3-4)
The Fighting Scots finished their Florida trip at 3-4 after splitting their final two games. Monmouth was led in its victory by Nicole Auclair, who capped an amazing week with a 3-for-4 performance. The junior shortstop singled home a run in the first, singled and scored in the third and singled and scored in the sixth. Pitcher Heather Burrows greatly helped her own cause by tripling in the fifth inning and scoring the go-ahead run on RBI fielder's choice by Michelle Courchane. Burrows allowed eight hits and two earned runs in her complete game win. Against Drew, Auclair singled and scored in the fourth to make it a 3-1 game, and Elizabeth Hudnall tripled and came home on Liz Sunday's hit one frame later, but it wasn't enough to prevent Shelly Orwig from taking the loss. After Orwig walked eight batters in 2.2 innings, Burrows came on it to pitch 4.1 frames of scoreless relief. For the trip, Burrows posted a 3-2 record and a sparkling ERA of 0.93. Auclair hit a staggering .600 and had a slugging percentage of .960.

March 12 at Ft. Myers, FL
Montclair State 9, Monmouth 6
Monmouth 7, Simmons 1
The Fighting Scots' offense is in full gear, as they've scored at least six runs in each of their last four games, including both contests Wednesday. The first game against Montclair State University was spoiled by five errors, which led to five unearned runs. The Scots booted the ball four times in the nightcap, but Heather Burrows was able to pitch out of trouble, yielding just an unearned run while going the distance. The Scots broke open a close game by scoring six times in the bottom of the seventh. Vanessa Madison had a two-run single and Stefanie Dunaway belted a pinch-hit, two-run double in the decisive frame. Madison, who was 2-for-4 against MSU, drove in four runs on the day.

March 11 at Ft. Myers, FL
Carroll 8, Monmouth 7 (1-2)
If only the Fighting Scots' defense was a reliable as shortstop Nicole Auclair's bat. Auclair improved her average to .818 this season and her slugging percentage to a whopping 1.636 by belting two home runs against MWC rival Carroll, but the Scots fell by a run thanks to four unearned tallies by the Pioneers in the top of the sixth inning. Reliever Heather Burrows could have been out of the frame with only a walk allowed, but two straight miscues opened the door to Carroll's decisive surge and an 8-4 lead. Auclair, who was 3-for-3 in the game with five RBIs, trimmed the margin to one with a three-run bomb in the bottom of the frame, but that would be the last of the scoring. Catcher Rachel Webster also had three hits.

March 10 at Ft. Myers, FL
Wheaton 4, Monmouth 3
Monmouth 6, Webster 5 (1-1)
The Fighting Scots opened their 2003 season with a couple thrillers, losing their first game when Wheaton broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out hit in the bottom of the seventh but winning a few hours later when Vanessa Madison singled home a run to cap a last at-bat rally. Trailing 5-4 against Webster in the bottom of the seventh, Elizabeth Hudnall doubled and scored when Rachel Webster reached on a two-base error. Madison then plated pinch runner Peggy Gibbs to make a winner of Heather Burrows, who pitched all seven innings, yielding just one earned run. Monmouth trailed 3-0 early but scored four runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by triples by Nicole Auclair and Madison and a double by Carrie Gerardi. Auclair went 3-for-4 in both games, and she helped Monmouth and game one starting pitcher Shelly Orwig to a 2-0 lead through three-and-a-half innings. Burrows came on in relief in the sixth inning and was charged with the loss.

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