The Lake Forest College softball team completed its third doubleheader sweep in the last four days on Sunday, prevailing 6-2 and 8-7 at Illinois College to take over first place in the Midwest Conference standings.

Both teams were 6-0 in league play entering the day, which began with a four-run rally for the Foresters in the top of the first inning. After the first two batters were retired, junior second baseman Kelly Collins singled and scored on a double by sophomore first baseman Kyla Chevalier. Freshman Jolie Devalk followed with an RBI single, sophomore third baseman Cadence Dempsey walked, and both came home on a triple by sophomore left fielder Brooke Swiecki.

Chevalier singled in a run in the second to make the score 5-0 but the Lady Blues plated one in the third and another in the fourth to close to within three.

A groundout by Devalk in the sixth brought home Cavalier with the final run of the contest.

Sophomore pitcher Kayla Collins went the distance for the Foresters, scattering seven hits and a walk to improve to 9-1 on the season. She was also 2-for-2 and drew two walks at the plate.

Lake Forest also struck first in game two on a two-out run-scoring single by sophomore right fielder Emmie Nyen in the top of the second inning.

After Illinois College tied the score with an unearned run in the fourth, the Foresters regained the lead when freshman center fielder Kaia Mismash singled in Nyen in the fifth. A double by sophiomore first baseman Makayla Tarasiewicz drove in Devalk in the sixth and it was a 3-1 game going into what turned out to be an eventful final frame.

Chevalier belted a two-run home run, her seventh of the season, to seemingly break the game open. Another run came in on an error and Tarasiewicz cleared the fence with a runner as well on to make the score 8-1. The Lady Blues did not go quietly in the bottom of the inning, however, with four singles and three walks in the first eight batters. With one out, the bases loaded, and the score 8-5, the batter hit a grounder to Collins at second base. She flipped to junior shortstop Kaylee Purgatorio at second to get the second out of the inning but Purgatorio's throw to first was wild. The batter broke for second but Tarasiewicz's throw beat her there and Purgatorio put on the tag to end the rally and the game.

Junior pitcher Hannah Smith retired the first nine batters she faced and did not allow any runs in the fifth and sixth despite baserunners reaching third base with no outs in both innings. She earned the victory and the save went to junior Brooke Challe, who entered with one out in the seventh, walked in a run, but induced the ground ball on the final at-bat of the game.

Tarasiewicz was 3-for-4 in the game with a double and her second homer of the season. Devalk and Nyen each had a pair of base hits and Swiecki tripled for the second time on the day.

Lake Forest improved to 17-9 overall while Illinois College fell to 11-18.

The Foresters will travel to Concordia University Chicago for a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.