Senior Sydney Wyatt went 6-for-7 in the leadoff spot and freshman Brie Gauthier belted a double, triple, and home run in her debut on Thursday as Lake Forest defeated Concordia University Chicago 12-5 and 10-4. The first games of the season for both teams were played indoors at The Dome in Rosemont, Illinois.
Wyatt was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two driven in during the opener. She was also hit by a pitch and stole three bases, becoming the seventh player in program history with at least that many in a single game. The catcher scored the Foresters' first run, drove in the next two, and then scored again to give the Foresters a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
After the Cougars regained the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth, Lake Forest pulled ahead for good with five tallies in the bottom of the frame. Gauthier tripled in the first and then scored on a base hit by senior Riley Frisbie. Junior Erin Karasewski singled in another run, the fourth came home on an error, and a sacrifice fly from junior Maddie Webb completed the rally.
Gauthier and senior Haylee Sherlund hit run-scoring doubles and a single by sophomore Josie Klein plated another in the sixth.
Karasewski and both Gauthier sisters, Brie and junior Shaye, had two of the team's 14 base hits and the Foresters finished one shy of the program record with eight stolen bases in the game. Only one of the runs allowed by senior Missy Dieckman-Meyer, who pitched all seven innings, was earned and the Cougars managed to collect just three base hits in the contest.
Lake Forest out-hit Concordia Chicago 11-6 and never trailed in game two. Shaye Gauthier earned the victory in the circle, tossing three-and-two-thirds hitless innings of relief of sophomore Meghan Joyce.
Klein drew a bases-loaded walk, Wyatt hit a sacrifice fly, and junior Nicole Schussler singled in a pair of runs in the top of the second inning.
After Concordia Chicago plated one in the bottom of the second and two in the third, both teams scored once in the fourth, the Foresters on a base hit by Wyatt.
Lake Forest broke the game open in the top of the sixth. Wyatt led off the frame with her sixth single of the day and later scored on an error. A bunt single by junior Hannah Kalnicky scored another run and Brie Gauther followed with a three-run homer to make the score 10-4.
Kalnicky and freshman Melissa Manzo each had two base hits and Wyatt three in the game.
Lake Forest will be in action at the Dome again Friday night, taking on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 7:00 and Calvin College at 9:00.