Sophomore catcher Sydney Wyatt belted a home run and a double but the Lake Forest College softball team was defeated 11-3 in five innings at Luther College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Wyatt started the scoring with two outs in the top of the first inning, belting her sixth round-tripper of the season to left field.
The Lake Forest lead was short-lived, however, as the Norse started the bottom of the inning with a double, single, and run-scoring double to tie the game.
Forester sophomore pitcher Missy Dieckman-Meyer was able to escape without any further scoring in the frame but was not as fortunate in the second, surrendering three unearned runs in her final inning of work.
Luther added four runs in the bottom of the third and one more in the fourth off Lake Forest junior pitcher Kyra Lenzi. Freshman Maddie Webb entered the game with two on and one out in the fourth and retired the next two hitters.
The Foresters were down to their final out in the top of the fifth when junior centerfielder Maria Zepeda lined a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right. Senior second baseman Kat Beall cleared the left-center field fence three pitches later, making the score 9-3. Both players have three home runs on the season and Beall now sits just one long-ball outside the program's top-10 list with 13 for her career, one more than Zepeda.
Despite extending the game in the top of the fifth, the Foresters were unable to keep Luther from scoring twice in the bottom of the frame to end the contest.
The loss to open play in the double-elimination regional tournament dropped Lake Forest's record on the year to 29-12 while Luther, the 16th-ranked team in the nation, improved to 36-8.
The Foresters' next game will be Saturday afternoon at 1:30 against the loser of Friday's other opening round contest between Cornell College and the College of St. Benedict.
