APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University softball team suffered a pair of tough Midwest Conference losses to Lake Forest College on Sunday at Whiting Field.
    Lake Forest won the opener 4-0 and then rallied in the seventh for an 8-7 win in the second game.
    In the second game, Zoe Doherty went 2-for-4, drove in two runs and scored twice for the Vikings (16-18, 9-5 MWC). Kourtney Mercer went 2-for-3 with a double, and Mattigan Haller smacked a two-run homer for Lawrence.
    The Vikings trailed 5-0 after two innings, but struck back with three runs in the third. Mercer singled and came around to score on a throwing error, and Doherty singled to drive in another run. Another error allowed Doherty to score, and Lawrence had trimmed the lead to 5-3.
    Lawrence then grabbed the lead with four runs in the fifth. Mercer's double jump-started the rally, and Doherty's single, coupled with an error, scored Gillian Guerriero. Janessa Gonzalez's groundout scored another run to tie the game. Haller then hit her eighth homer of the season, a two-run shot, to put the Vikings up 7-5.
    Lake Forest (22-13-1, 12-2) scored three times in the seventh with the help of a double, an error, multiple stolen bases and a squeeze bunt to go up by a run. The Vikings put the tying run on base in the seventh but couldn't keep the rally going. 
    In the first game, Riley Stiles tossed a six-hit shutout, striking out three and walking three, for Lake Forest. Avery Chilson went the distance and took the loss for the Vikings.
    Doherty went 3-for-4 with a double for the Vikings.
    Lawrence remains in third place in the conference with two league games remaining. Lawrence needs one win in its final conference doubleheader at Beloit College to claim its first berth in the MWC Tournament since 2015.