Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Lake Forest softball team began play at the IWU Invite in Bloomington, Ill., on Saturday with a pair of high-scoring games.
 
The Foresters (8-6) fell to Wartburg College 9-8 in the first game of the day, then followed up that result with a 9-7 victory against DePauw University.
 
Game 1: Wartburg 9, Lake Forest 8
In a disjointed game that included a weather delay and an extended replay review, the Foresters mounted a late comeback, only to fall 9-8 to Wartburg College.
 
Kyla Chevalier, Cheyenne Pellettiere, and Kaylee Purgatorio all homered for Lake Forest, while Kaia Mismash and Cadence Dempsey each contributed a pair of hits.
 
The Foresters trailed 5-3 at the end of the fifth inning but batted around in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead. Chevalier led off the inning with a solo home run to bring the score to 5-4, then Purgatorio launched a three-run home run after a pair of Knights errors to give Lake Forest the lead.
 
Mismash then tripled to center field and came around to score on another Wartburg error, pushing the Foresters' lead to 8-5.
 
Wartburg responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning, with three of those runs coming on bunts in the inning.
 
Hannah Smith got the start for Lake Forest and fired five innings, allowing seven runs (five earned). Morgan Traxinger (1-2) took the loss, allowing a pair of runs in her 2/3 of an inning pitched.
 
Game 2: Lake Forest 9, DePauw 7
Emmie Nyen hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Lake Forest a late lead, as the Foresters prevailed 9-7 against DePauw University in a sloppy game that saw the teams combined for eight errors.
 
Mismash again was the engine for the Foresters' offense, contributing three hits at the plate, and was a menace on the base paths with a pair of stolen bases and two runs scored.
 
Nyen got the scoring started for Lake Forest right away with a two-run single up the middle in the first inning, as the first four Foresters to bat in the game reached base. Pellettiere boosted the lead to 3-0 by reaching on a fielding error, allowing Kelly Collins to come around to score.
 
Nyen finished the game 3-for-4 with a game-high four RBI.
 
The Foresters' offense continued to roll from there, as Lake Forest added two runs in the second inning, then two more in the third.
 
DePauw made a huge run in the fourth inning by scoring seven runs to tie the game, thanks in part to sloppiness by the Lake Forest defense. Pitcher Riley Stiles (5-0) pitched the entire game for Lake Forest and allowed seven runs in the game, however, only one of those runs were earned.
 
Lake Forest will continue play at the IWU Invite on Sunday. The Foresters will take on the hosts Illinois Wesleyan for a doubleheader, with Game 1 starting at 1:30 p.m.