Megan Laib (Fr.-Tinley Park, Ill.) hit a two-run home run to put her team ahead and Niki Saviano (Fr.-Orland Park, Ill.) pitched a complete game as the Lakeland University softball team defeated Dominican (Ill.) University 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday afternoon.

Laib drove in three runs in all and Saviano scattered seven hits with a much-needed strong pitching performance as the Muskies won the first of two low-scoring games on the day. Dominican turned the tables in the second game with a 4-2 win to gain the split between the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference teams.

The Stars scored a run in the first but then were scoreless the rest of the way despite putting a runner on base in six of seven innings. Lakeland (9-13 overall, 3-5 NACC) took the lead in the bottom of the second after Sami Jo Williams (Sr.-Sussex, Wis.) singled and Laib hit her second home run of the season.

The Muskies scored insurance runs in the fourth and sixth innings as Laib and Paige Chladek (Fr.-Orland Park, Ill.) both hit RBI doubles. Lakeland also thwarted a Dominican rally attempt in the fifth, when Gabby Curran singled but Sydney Kuderna was cut down at home by Williams trying to score from second on the play.

The Stars (18-8 overall, 3-5 NACC) also got off to a good start in the second game with two runs in the first. The Stars made the most of their four hits in the game, getting all four of their hits over the first and fourth innings when they scored all of their runs.

Lakeland tallied a run in the third when Mikayla Hilton (Sr.-Saukville, Wis.) singled to score Jessica Beaudry (Jr.-Gladstone, Mich). The Muskies got their second run in the seventh, and nearly had a lot more, loading the bases with nobody out. Jocelyn Yeager (Sr.-Elm Grove, Wis.) scored on a one-out foul out by Williams with the bases loaded, and Lakeland had runners at second and third when a ground out ended the game.

Beaudry, Chladek and Laib all had three hits each on the day. Lindsey Cudecki (Fr.-Chicago, Ill.) and Taylor Bush (So.-Waukesha, Wis.) pitched the second game, with Cudecki allowing four hits and four runs in three innings, though just one of the runs was earned. Bush came on in the fourth and pitched four hitless innings in relief.

Lakeland returns to the field Tuesday when it hosts Mount Mary University for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.