The Lake Forest College softball team split a doubleheader with Monmouth College on Friday, taking the opener 10-2 in five innings before falling 4-1 in game two.

Due to field conditions at Monmouth, the games were played at EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.

Senior starting pitcher Riley Stiles was dominant in the first game, allowing just a bunt single while striking out a career-high eight batter in four scoreless innings. She improved to 4-2 on the season.

The Foresters took the lead on a three-run homer by junior catcher Paige Ratliff in the third inning.

Lake Forest's other seven runs were scored in the top of the fifth. Junior shortstop Kaia Mismash scored the first on a passed ball and Ratliff singled in the second before scoring herself on a base hit by sophomore first baseman Nicole Marceau. The Foresters used seven pinch-hitters in the inning and they produced four base hits, including a two-run single by freshman Laylah Gore and a run-scoring single by freshman Maddie Cole. Junior Jolie Devalk also drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

The Fighting Scots scored twice in the bottom of the frame and nearly extended the game another inning but sophomore left fielder Natalie Booth threw out a runner at the plate to end the contest.

Mismash and senior right fielder Emmie Nyen joined Ratliff with two-hit performances and Mismash accounted for four of the team's seven stolen bases.

Mismash also stole a base in game two and, after just two-and-a-half seasons, is now the Midwest Conference's all-time leader with 104 in her career.

The only other highlight for the Foresters in game two was a second-inning home run by Marceau, who is now tied for the team lead in that category with three on the year.

The Fighting Scots answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning and doubled their score with a two-run homer in the fourth.

Lake Forest made a comeback bid in the sixth but a deep fly ball off the bat of Ratliff was caught off the fence in center field and confusion over whether or not the ball fell into the fielder's glove on a fly resulted in two runners being tagged out near second base.

Friday's doubleheader was the first in league play for both teams and the split left the Foresters at 9-7 and Monmouth at 6-16 overall.

Lake Forest will be in action against Saturday at Cornell College with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.