The Lake Forest softball team continued play at The Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., on Tuesday with a pair of games against Penn State-Brandywine and Penn State-Behrend.
 
After sweeping the first two games of the season Monday, the Foresters (3-1) split their games Tuesday, falling to Penn State-Brandywine 11-3, then defeating Penn State-Behrend 7-2.
 
Penn State-Brandywine 11, Lake Forest 3
 
The Foresters dropped their first game of the season Tuesday by falling 11-3 to Penn State-Brandywine.  
 
Lake Forest was able to get off to a hot start to the contest, thanks to junior Cadence Dempsey. After leadoff hitter Kaia Mismash battled off some tough pitches to force a walk to open the game, Dempsey drilled a line-drive home run to center field to give the Foresters an early 2-0 lead.
 
It was Dempsey's second first-inning home run in as many days, as the third baseman also belted a solo homer Monday against Alfred University.
 
Mismash continued her torrid start to the season by going 2-for-2 with a walk. In the first three games, she is batting .900 with a team-high six runs scored.
 
The Forester lead would not last long, however, as Penn State-Brandywine responded with five runs in the bottom of the second inning to reclaim the lead.
 
Junior Morgan Traxinger (0-1) took a hard-luck loss in the circle for Lake Forest, allowing five runs in 1 2/3 innings of work, however only one of those runs was earned.
 
The Lions' offense would tack on two runs in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to put the game out of reach.
 
Lake Forest 7, Penn State-Behrend 2
 
The Foresters responded in the afternoon with a resounding 7-2 victory over Penn State-Behrend.
 
Riley Stiles (1-0) led the way for Lake Forest with a commanding pitching effort. The junior tossed 6 innings, allowing only two runs (one earned), while striking out four to pick up her first win of the season.
 
Junior Emmie Nyen could not be stopped at the plate. The right fielder went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run and batted in a pair, while scoring three runs herself. Jolie Devalk also provided a critical three-run home run to give the Foresters more breathing room.
 
After the Lions put two runs on the board in the top of the fifth, Lake Forest had an answer to extend the lead. Nyen doubled down the left-field line to score pinch-runner Maci Lake, then Devalk took the first pitch she saw in the at-bat deep to left-center for a three-run home run and give Lake Forest a 7-2 lead.
 
The Foresters will return to the diamond in The Spring Games on Thursday with a pair of contests in the morning. Lake Forest will take on Berry College at 8 a.m. (CT), followed by a matchup against Roger Williams University at 10:15 a.m.