In a pivotal matchup of top teams in the Midwest Conference, it was the Lake Forest softball team that came up with a pair of wins over Ripon College to surpass the Red Hawks in the conference standings.
Despite Ripon entering play Saturday holding the conference lead, the Foresters (17-13, 8-2 MWC) rolled to a 13-0 win in five innings in game one, followed by a 7-1 victory in game two.
With the wins, Lake Forest moved ahead of Ripon in the conference standings and remain tied in the loss column with Illinois College, as both schools have just two losses in MWC games.
Game 1: Lake Forest 13, Ripon 0 (5 innings)
The Foresters seized control of the game from the opening pitch and clobbered Ripon, 13-0 in five innings, in game one.
Lake Forest scored three runs in the first inning, three more in the second, and broke the game open with a five-run third inning.
Riley Stiles (7-4) dazzled in the circle for Lake Forest. The junior allowed just one hit – a first-inning single – and no runs while pitching all five innings. The one hit was the fewest Stiles has allowed in an outing all season, and Saturday marked the third time this season that Stiles has allowed zero runs in an appearance.
Emmie Nyen led the way offensively for Lake Forest. The cleanup hitter was 3-for-3 with four RBI and a run scored on the game. Nyen reached on a bunt single to score
Cadence Dempsey in the first inning, then contributed another RBI bunt single in the second inning, this time scoring
Kelly Collins.
In her final at-bat, Nyen crushed a line drive to center field for a double, plating both Dempsey and Collins to push the Lake Forest lead to 11-0.
Kaia Mismash was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI, while Dempsey reached base three times and scored three runs.
Lake Forest scored in every inning of the game.
Game 2: Lake Forest 7, Ripon 1
Game two once again saw Lake Forest's pitching shut down the Ripon offense, as
Hannah Smith pitched the complete game in the 7-1 victory.
After Stiles' strong performance in game one, the senior Smith (4-5) produced another gem in the circle for Lake Forest. Smith matched her season high with eight strikeouts in her seven innings pitched. After allowing a run in the top of the first on an RBI sacrifice bunt, Smith would not allow another run in the game to hold Ripon in check.
After a slow start to the season, Smith has now earned the victory in three of her last four starts, including an eight-inning complete game win over Dominican University in her last start on Wednesday.
Left fielder
Jolie Devalk was 3-for-3 with three RBI to continue her hot streak at the plate. In Devalk's last four games, she is batting 9-for-12 (.750) with three runs scored and eight RBI.
Dempsey was also a thorn in Ripon's side all game, as the third baseman went 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI.
Devalk's RBI single in the first inning capped a three-run bottom of the first for Lake Forest, and the sophomore added a pair of insurance runs with a two-run single in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 7-1.
Lake Forest will stay at home for its next contest, a nonconference matchup against Concordia University Chicago. The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday, with the first pitch of game one at 3:00 p.m.
