Box Score vs. Illinois College
Box Score vs. Lake Forest

EAST MOLINE, Ill. - Ripon lost both of their games Friday during the first day of the Midwest Conference Classic, falling 7-3 to Illinois College and 5-0 to Lake Forest. The Red Hawks' day was highlighted by senior pitcher Stephanie Rieuwpassa's seven strikeout performance against LFC, giving her 451 career strikeouts, which breaks the previous school mark of 448.

In the day's first game, Ripon (7-11, 1-3 MWC) fell behind early against Illinois College (11-10, 2-3 MWC), as the Lady Blues' Anna Jacobs connected on a three-run homer in the top of the first inning.

Ripon got two of those runs back in the second frame, scoring on a bases loaded hit by pitch and an RBI single from Korrine Peterson

Illinois College added another run on a sacrifice fly in the third, but Ripon would match that in the bottom of the sixth when Cassie Bilotto hit a mammouth solo home run to cut the lead to 4-3. That would be as close as Ripon would get the rest of the way, as Illinois College plated three more runs in the top of the seventh to cap the scoring.

The Red Hawks outhit Illinois College 8-7 in the game. Peterson, Beth Ebben and Ashley Gnacinski each finished with two hits apiece. Gnacinski (2-4) took the loss, as she went the distance, striking out three batters.

Ripon's second game was a pitcher's duel for the first few innings until Lake Forest (11-9, 6-0 MWC) scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to break a scoreless tie. Three of those runs came on one swing of the bat when Alex Hemmer homered to right center. The Foresters added another insurance run in the sixth.

Bilotto led the Red Hawks with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate. Rieuwpassa, Gnacinski, Cassie Olson and Jordan Hester also had base knocks for Ripon. Rieuwpassa (4-5) walked two batters in addition to her seven strikeouts.

The Red Hawks will be in action again on Saturday at the MWC Classic, as they'll face Monmouth and Cornell at 1 and 3 p.m., respectively. The games will once again be played at Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Ill. and can be followed via LiveStats at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal# .