MILWAUKEE –
Savannah Stenlund (
Fr.-Rapid River, Mich.) delivered a pair of sterling pitching performances to carry the Lakeland College softball team to another doubleheader sweep, this time against Milwaukee School of Engineering Sunday afternoon.
Stenlund carried the load in the circle, pitching a pair of complete games as the Muskies won by scores of 4-1 and 3-1. The freshman hurler allowed a combined one earned run over the two games as Lakeland won its 11th and 12th consecutive games.
The Muskies evened their record at 18-18 overall and 9-9 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland also has played its way into the thick of contention for a spot in the NACC Tournament, as the Muskies are now tied with Alverno College for sixth in the league standings. The top six teams in the final standings qualify for the conference tournament.
Stenlund allowed nine hits but just one unearned run while striking out six in the first game. She then received the start in the second game and was even better, surrendering just four hits and one run while fanning six.
Lakeland's offense was slowed by MSOE pitcher Shannon Curtis, who also started both games. Both games were close entering the fifth inning, but the Muskies generated runs late in both to pull ahead.
Lakeland led 1-0 entering the fifth in the opener before scoring three times.
Hailey Jester (
Fr.-Salem, Wis.) tripled to score pinch runner
Elizabeth Zimmerman (
Sr.-Shawano, Wis.) and then scored when
Sami Jo Williams (
So.-Sussex, Wis.).
Angela Tribuzio (
Fr.-Huntley, Ill.) then doubled later in the inning to score
Ashley Hough (
Sr.-Rapid River, Mich.) and make it 4-0.
MSOE (12-22 overall, 3-15 NACC) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the second game, but the Muskies tied it in the third on an RBI double by Hough. Lakeland took the lead in the fifth, as Jester singled to start the inning and scored on a passed ball, and Tribuzio later singled to score Williams.
Williams was 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the second game and finished with four hits on the day. Hough, Jester and Tribuzio all added three hits each for the afternoon, including two each in the nightcap.
The Muskies now have a break until Friday when they host Edgewood College for an important NACC doubleheader at 2 p.m.
