PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Leah Binsfeld (Sr.-Kaukauna, Wis.) pitched two complete games for victories and the Lakeland University softball team ensured it will play in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament with a doubleheader sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran College Sunday afternoon.

The Muskies won the first game 4-1 and then rallied late for a 5-4 win in the crucial second game that clinched a top-four finish in the NACC North Division and a spot in the divisional tournament May 7-9. Lakeland finished winning three of four in the weekend series with the Warriors, and with a four-game lead over Lutheran in the standings with four games to play can finish in no worse than a tie for the fourth spot and now possesses the head-to-head tiebreaker with WLC.

The Muskies (9-18-1 overall, 8-8 NACC North) badly needed both games on Sunday after the teams split their first two games on Saturday, and they got the sweep behind a huge day from Binsfeld. Lakeland's senior pitcher allowed just six hits in the opening game, and she came back to allow eight hits and four runs (one earned) in the second game.

Binsfeld also helped her own cause with three hits in the second game, including what proved to be the game-winner in the top of the seventh. She broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI single to right to score Cheyenne Mathas (Jr.-St. John, Ind.), and then came back in the bottom of the inning to work out of a sticky situation with two on and one out, retiring the final two batters to close out the win in game two.

The victory capped a dramatic final three innings of the nightcap where the teams swept the lead three times, with Lakeland first breaking a 2-2 tie in the fifth when Mathas singled with two out to score Sabrina Wickman (Sr.-Quinnesec, Mich.). Wisconsin Lutheran came back with two in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of two Muskies errors, but Lakeland rallied back to tie it on a double by Hannah Hornsby (Jr.-Brookville, Ind.) to bring in Emyli Kreiser (So.-Greenfield, Wis.).

The Muskies hit the ball well in both games, with 11 hits in the first game and 12 in the second. Binsfeld and Mathas both had three hits in the nightcap and Wickman added two hits, and Binsfeld also drove in two runs.

The opener saw all of the scoring done in the first three innings, including Lakeland scoring twice in the top of the first. Juliana Hall (So.-Portage, Ind.) tripled to send in the first run and Kreiser followed with an RBI single. The Warriors answered with a run in the bottom of the first, but Hannah Nelson (Fr.-Loves Park, Ill.) drove in a run in the second and Kreiser added a run-scoring double.

Binsfeld sailed through the middle innings, retiring 10 straight at one point and not facing a serious threat to the lead until the sixth, when Wisconsin Lutheran put runners at second and third with two out but could not score. The Warriors then went down 1-2-3 in the seventh and finished stranding just three runners.

Kreiser and Nelson both went 3-for-4 in the first game, including Kreiser hammering a pair of doubles. Binsfeld also added a hit and a walk, finishing the day with four hits and reaching five times in seven plate appearances.

Binsfeld defeated Wisconsin Lutheran's Jena Almodovar twice, with the Warriors' top pitcher allowing four runs in four innings in the first game and then taking the loss in relief in the second. Maddie Lindemann led Wisconsin Lutheran (11-23 overall, 4-12 NACC North) with three hits in the doubleheader, including two in the first game.

Lakeland next will host Mount Mary University for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 3 p.m.