The Lake Forest College softball team made the program's 11th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance but was eliminated by a loss to host Washington University in St. Louis 4-2 on Saturday.
The game actually spanned two days and two locations. They began at the WashU Softball Field on Friday and there was still no score after two innings when a the facility was cleared out as a tornado came through the area. It was resumed on Saturday at nearby Lindenwood University. Both teams had a chance to score in the opening frame but had a runner thrown out at home.
The Bears had a pair of runners on base in the third but a double play turned in by the Foresters ended the inning. Junior third baseman
Cadence Dempsey lunged to her left to snag a line drive and then quickly threw from her knees to sophomore second baseman
Lia Taglia to double up the lead runner.
Lake Forest was unable to escape the fourth unscathed, however, as the Bears finally got on the scoreboard with two runs off senior pitcher
Hannah Smith. They added two more in the sixth, thanks in part to a throwing error and a wild pitch.
The Foresters cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore center fielder
Kaia Mismash led off the frame with her fifth base hit in six at-bats at the tournament and later stole her third base of the game and 49th this season. She was at third with the bases loaded and one out before scoring on a fielder's choice groundout to third by junior
Kyla Chevalier. Senior designated player
Cheyenne Pellettiere followed with a single over the second baseman's glove that brought in another run.
Lake Forest, however, had another runner thrown out at the plate after Pellettiere's hit got away from the right fielder and were unable to mount a rally in the seventh.
Pellettiere was 2-for-3 in the contest while Chevalier was 1-for-2 with a double and matched Mismash by reaching base safely five times (four hits and a walk) at the tournament.
The Foresters finished the season with a 28-16-1 record while Washington-St. Louis, the 10th-ranked team in the nation, improved to 33-6.
