Sophomore leftfielder Abby King hit a walk-off home run in the Lake Forest's College softball team's 6-4 victory over visiting University of Wisconsin-Stout in game one of the teams' doubleheader on Friday. The Foresters also took game two 8-2.
After Stout started the twinbill with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first inning, Forester sophomore centerfielder Maria Zepeda led off the bottom of the frame with a homer to straightaway center field.
Zepeda also scored the tying run in the bottom of the third after leading off with a single and stealing second. Freshman first baseman Riley Frisbie followed with a base hit up the middle to plate the speedy Zepeda.
Lake Forest took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman third baseman Haylee Sherlund singled to left to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior second baseman Jillian Rashid. Freshman catcher Sydney Wyatt then singled up the middle to bring home Sherlund and make the score 3-2 in favor of the Foresters.
The Blue Devils tied the score with two outs in the sixth and regained the lead on a two-out single in the top of the seventh.
Zepeda began the bottom of the seventh with her third base hit of the contest. She then tried to go from first to third on a sacrifice bunt by Frisbie and needed a wide slide and dive back to the base to reach it safely. Zepeda scored for the third time in the game on a single to center by junior shortstop Kat Beall and King followed with the walk-off home run to left-center field.
Lake Forest senior pitcher Jenny McTague struck out three batters, walked two, and scattered eight hits to earn the victory.
The Foresters got off to the fast start in game two. Zepeda started the bottom of the first inning with her fourth leadoff hit of the doubleheader and sprinted to third on a hit up the middle by Frisbie. After a popout, King bunted and Zepeda beat the throw home. One out later, Sherlund belted her second home run of the season over the left field fence to put the Foresters ahead 4-0.
After Stout finally got on the scoreboard on a homer in the top of the fourth, Zepeda's agressive baserunning led to her fifth run scored on the day. After drawing a one-out walk, Zepeda stole her fifth base of the season. Frisbie then lined out to right field and Zepeda tagged up, beat the throw to third, and sped home after the ball got past the third baseman.
The Blue Devils scored another run in the fifth but left a pair of runners on base.
Already ahead 5-2, the Foresters doubled their lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Rashid lined a double into the left field corner to start the rally. A two-out single by Beall brought home the first run of the frame and she scored all the way from first on a double by King. Senior rightfielder Sam Rosenfeld followed with a double of her own to make the score 8-2.
Forester freshman pitcher Missy Dieckman-Meyer allowed six base hits but just two runs to earn the victory and improve to 5-2 on the season.
King and Sherlund each had three base hits in the game while Frisbie, Beall, and Wyatt chipped in with two apiece. Lake Forest's 16 hits in the contest are a season-high.
The victories evened the Foresters' record on the year at 7-7 while Stout slipped to 6-8.
Lake Forest will travel to Illinois Wesleyan University on Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader.