ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Lakeland University softball team erupted for seven runs in the third inning but Lake Forest (Ill.) College rallied back for a 9-7 win Sunday afternoon as the Muskies christened their 2019 season.

The Muskies finished 0-2 on the day, also losing to Buena Vista (Iowa) University 9-1 in five innings in their opening game. Lakeland was able to get in some early competition before its spring break trip to Florida next week by playing at The Dome at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex outside Chicago.

The Muskies were done in by miscues in the second game, with eight errors leading to all but one of the Foresters' runs. That included six unearned runs scoring in the first three innings to give Lake Forest a 6-0 lead.

Lakeland responded with an outburst in the bottom of the third to take the lead. Twelve batters stepped to the plate in the frame and the Muskies scored seven times. Caitlin Fitzgerald (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) hit a two-run double, freshman Cheyenne Mathas (Fr.-St. John, Ind.) tripled in a run and Taylor Bush (Sr.-Waukesha, Wis.) and Hannah Hornsby (Fr.-Brookville, Ind.) also drove in runs as Lakeland turned a 6-0 deficit into a 7-6 lead.

The Muskies were unable to score again, though, and Lake Forest (2-2 overall) tied it back up in the fourth and regained the lead in the fifth with a single run, against taking advantage of an error. The Foresters added an insurance run in the seventh, one inning after Lakeland got a runner to third with one out but was unable to score.

Bush and Lexia Upson (Jr.-Waterford, Mich.) had two hits each to lead an 11-hit attack. Lindsay Cudecki (Jr.-Chicago, Ill.) was the hard-luck losing pitcher, tossing a complete game and allowing nine hits and nine runs, with just one earned.

Lakeland was victimized by a big inning in its opener, as Buena Vista scored six times in the bottom of the first inning. The Beavers eventually built an eight-run lead after four innings and finished an inning later on account of the eight-run rule.

The Muskies actually scored first in the top of the first as Meghan Etten (Sr.-Elkhorn, Wis.) singled to lead off, stole and second and came in to score on a single by Amber Andersen (So.-Chicago, Ill.). Lakeland notched just one more hit the rest of the way, though, a single by A.J. Zickuhr (Sr.-Bettendorf, Iowa) with two outs in the fifth.

Lakeland now prepares for its spring break trip to Florida, where it will play games in both Clermont and Kissimmee. The Muskies open next Sunday, March 10 against Becker (Mass.) College at 2 p.m. Eastern time, 1 p.m. Central.