The Lady Toppers played their best softball game of the season so far on Saturday.

But they also played their worst, ending the weekend on a low note.

Splitting four games over the weekend, the Lady Toppers placed second in the Western Kentucky Invitational to Illinois State. Western will use the tournament as preparation for conference play, coach Rachel Lawson said.

Western will play at home today for a double header with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis beginning at 2 p.m.

The Lady Toppers (14-11) collected two wins against Belmont (9-10-1) and Illinois State (11-7) on Saturday morning to start the invitational.

Senior shortstop Bailey Rolfs hit three home runs in five at-bats Saturday, two of which were in her first and second plate appearances in the 3-2 win against Belmont.

In the final inning, Belmont threatened when sophomore catcher Jess McMillian hit a two-run home run to bring the Bruins within one point of winning, but freshman pitcher Jennifer Kempf forced a ground out to seal the game.

Kempf struck out seven Belmont batters, limiting the Bruins to three hits in seven innings.

Earning her 61st career win in the victory over Illinois State, senior pitcher Adrienne Lathrop became the Lady Toppers’ all-time winningest pitcher.

“Adrienne pitched the best game she has pitched,” Lawson said. “She is tremendous. She has a great head on her shoulders, and she does what she needs to do to get the win.”

Illinois State jumped out on top first with a solo home run in the first inning, but the Lady Toppers battled back with freshman second baseman Sam Cronk’s single up the middle to score freshman designated hitter Becky Bishop.

Rolfs yanked her third home run of the day in the bottom of the third, extending the Lady Toppers lead 3-1 and giving Lathrop the cushion she needed to earn the win.

Lathrop fanned nine batters and held the Redbirds to three hits in seven innings.

The Lady Toppers fell 3-2 to Austin Peay (5-9-1) on Sunday morning in extra innings.

Despite taking the 2-1 advantage in the eighth, the Lady Toppers lost on senior outfielder Megan Brooks’ two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth.

Freshman pitcher Ryan Rogge finished with nine strikeouts, but she said any one hitter can have an effect on the game when playing at the collegiate level.

“I am going to have to realize that I am playing on a really short field and one swing can change the whole game,” Rogge said.

Managing only one hit in their championship game rematch with Illinois State, the Lady Toppers picked up their second loss of the day, falling 6-0. Hitting was the difference between the first and second games, Cronk said.

“We need to get hits when we need them, especially with runners on base and getting them to score,” Cronk said.

The Lady Toppers had a very strong performance on Saturday, and the team’s performance on Sunday will not be the focus for Tuesday’s double header, Lawson said.

“We’re not going to get out of our mold,” Lawson said. “We are a good team. We are going to concentrate on what we do well.”