Sophomore catcher Sydney Wyatt, junior centerfielder Maria Zepeda, and senior infielder Kat Beall recorded three-hit games as the Lake Forest College softball team prevailed 7-1 and 14-3 at Beloit College on Wednesday.
Wyatt was 3-for-3 with a double in the opener and was on base when senior leftfielder Sydney Gardner broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth inning with her second home run of the season. Both teams had scored a run in the first inning, the Foresters on a leadoff triple by Zepeda and two-out single by freshman shortstop Hannah Kalnicky.
The Foresters added to their lead with a pair of runs in the fifth. Freshman pitcher Shaye Gauthier drew a one-out walk and Kalnicky singed for the second time in the contest. Beall and junior rightfielder Abby King followed with back-to-back RBI-singles up the middle to make the score 5-1.
The visitors also loaded the bases in the seventh tacked on two more runs on a bases-loaded walk to Zepeda and wild pitch.
Lake Forest finished with a dozen hits in the game while Gauthier allowed just six in the complete game victory. She struck out seven Buccaneers and improved to 5-0 with a 1.45 earned run average on the year.
The Foresters had a season-high 18 base hits in game two, including a single by Zepeda to lead off the contest. She later scored on a bunt single by Gauthier, who came home on a double by Kalnicky. A two-out sun-scoring single by sophomore third baseman Haley Sherlund capped off the three-run rally.
After the Buccaneers plated a run in the bottom of the first, Lake Forest came back with three more in the second. King doubled to lead off the frame and scored on Zepeda's second triple of the day. Beall followed with a base hit, stole second, and scored on Kalnicky's fourth hit of the doubleheader.
Zepeda drew her second bases-loaded walk of the day in the third and Beall followed with another RBI-single, making the score 8-1 after three.
A five-run rally in the top of the fourth included freshman pitcher Maddie Webb's first career homer, a run-scoring double by Beall, and a two-run single by senior first baseman Megan Dahlinger.
Beloit scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth off Webb, who then drove in her third run of the contest on a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Webb allowed just three hits while striking out three and walking three in the game. She is now 6-2 with a 2.39 ERA on the year.
Eleven Foresters had at least one hit in the game, including Zepeda and Beall with three apiece and Kalnicky, Sherlund, and freshman outfielder Erin Karasewski with two each.
Lake Forest is now 23-9 overall and 11-1 in Midwest Conference play. Beloit fell to 5-29 overall and 2-12 in the league.
The Foresters will host a doubleheader against Cornell College Thursday afternoon at 3:00 and would clinch a spot in the four-team MWC Tournament with victories in both games.
