The Lake Forest College softball team closed out the regular season with a pair of victories over Grinnell College at home on Saturday. The Foresters rolled 14-3 in five innings in the opener before blanking the Pioneers 7-0 in game two.
They were the final home games for Lake Forest seniors
Kyla Chevalier,
Cadence Dempsey,
Emmie Nyen,
Riley Stiles,
Brooke Swiecki, and
Morgan Traxinger.
Stiles was the starting pitcher in game one and allowed just one run in three-and-two-thirds innings of work. She struck out three, did not issue a walk, and improved to 8-5 on the year. Traxinger was the pitcher in game two and threw fewer than 60 pitches in the two-hit shutout. She also started the opener at second base, made a nice play up the middle to retire the first batter in the game, and doubled in her only late appearance.
Chevalier reached base seven times on the day, going 3-for-4 with a double and drawing three walks. Dempsey and Nyen were each 2-for-5 at the plate and scored a combined five runs. Dempey also drove in five and belted her team-high eighth home run of the season. She and Chevalier are now tied for second place in program history with 26 career homers. Swiecki narrowly missed joining Dempsey with a home run but her line drive to left in the opener hit just below the top of the fence and she settled for a double.
Sophomore
Nicole Marceau was 3-for-3 with a home run and six runs batted in during game one. She singled in the only run of the first inning, hit a grand slam in the second, and added drove in another run on a base hit in the third. Chevalier, Nyen, and junior speedsters
Kaia Mismash and
Lia Taglia each had two hits and at least one stolen base in the contest.
A double steal with Taglia and Mismash gave the Foresters the lead in the bottom of the first inning of game two. Dempsey hit a two-run homer in the third, Mismash tripled in a run in the fourth, and Marceau cleared the fence for the second time on the day and sixth this season in the fifth.
Mismash, who matched one school record with three doubles in a game two weeks ago, tied another with two triples on Saturday. She and Dempsey are the only Foresters to accomplish both feats. She also had a single in the contest and extended her program record hitting streak to 36 games, which ranks tied-for-third in NCAA Division III history.
Sohomore
Vanessa Buske also tripled in the game and was the only Forester other than Mismash with multiple hits.
Lake Forest improved to 22-12 overall and finished the regular season with a 12-4 record in Midwest Conference play. Grinnell fell to 10-30 overall and 5-11 in the league.
The Foresters will travel to Illinois College for next weekend's MWC Tournament and play in the first game of the double-elimination event Friday at 10:00 a.m.
