The Lake Forest College softball team dropped the opening game of the Midwest Conference Tournament 6-0 to Grinnell College but rebounded for an 11-2 six-inning triumph over Cornell College on day one of the event. The double-elimination tournament is being hosted by Illinois College.
Grinnell scored single runs in the second and third innings before plating four in the fourth.
The Foresters had a baserunner in every inning and stranded seven in the contest. A leadoff double by junior first baseman Teagan Delarwelle in the top of the second inning was the only one of their six hits to go for extra bases.
Lake Forest senior Kristen Calhoun pitched two-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.
The first six runs of the day for the Foresters were the result of a pair of shots to the opposite field gap against Cornell. Freshman left fielder Brooke Swiecki drove in two on a line drive triple to right-center in the top of the second inning and she scored herself on an errant throw to third base. Lake Forest also scored three in the third on a bases-loaded double to left-center by freshman center fielder Emmie Nyen.
After the Rams scored their only two runs of the game in the bottom of the third, the Foresters added three more to their total in the fourth. A single to right off the bat of freshman third baseman Cadence Dempsey plated Swiecki and a base hit to left by junior catcher Angelle Bills brought home two more.
Freshman catcher/designated player Kyla Chevalier singled in another run in the sixth and scored the final run of the contest on an error later in the inning.
Lake Forest sophomore Brooke Challe allowed just two runs while scattering eight base hits in the first five innings. She is now 4-0 on the season. Freshman Kayla Collins retired the side in order in the sixth to finish off the victory.
Chevalier and sophomore second baseman Kelly Collins each had three hits and Bills was 2-for-2 in the game.
The Foresters are now 26-13-1 this season and will take on Illinois College in another elimination game Saturday morning at 10:00. The winner will face Grinnell in the championship round at noon and will need to defeat the Pioneers twice to claim the tourney title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
