Senior Kyra Lenzi surrendered only three base hits and junior Missy Dieckman-Meyer allowed just two as Lake Forest blanked the State University of New York-Fredonia 3-0 and Carroll University 1-0 on Wednesday.
Lenzi got all the run support she needed in the first two batters of the game. Senior centerfielder Maria Zepeda led off the contest with her sixth career triple and scored just four pitches later on a groundout by senior shortstop Alyssa Grimm.
Zepeda belted the 13th home run of her career with a runner on in the third, making the score 3-0. She also added a single in the seventh to match her career-high for total bases in a game with eight. Her 135 career hits are tied for the ninth-highest total in team history.
The first hit against Lenzi came in the bottom of the first but the batter was thrown out by junior rightfielder Maddie Trost trying for a double. The Blue Devils added a base hit through the left side of the infield in the second and a single to the shortstop in the fifth, but their only two baserunners of the game were stranded at first. Lenzi struck out two batters, did not issue a walk, and threw just 76 pitches in the contest.
Dieckman-Meyer was just as dominant and nearly as efficient against Carroll, allowing just two singles and a walk while striking out two and throwing 80 pitches. The singles came in the third and fourth and neither runner reached second base. She issued a one-out walk with the game still scoreless in the top of the seventh but junior catcher Sydney Wyatt threw out the pinch-runner trying to steal to end the inning.
With nobody on base and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the game appeared to be headed to extra innings. Trost extended the innings with a single to right field and was replaced on first base by freshman Josie Klein. Junior first baseman Riley Frisbie then belted a line drive double to right field and Klein raced all the way around to score the winning run.
The last time the Foresters shut out two different teams on the same day was during the 2015 Midwest Conference Tournament. They improved to 6-4 on the season while dropping Fredonia's record to 3-7 and Carroll's to 7-4.
After a day off on Thursday, Lake Forest will face Linfield College, the ninth-ranked team in the nation, Friday afternoon at 3:45 (ET) and Rowan University at 6:00 (ET).
