FOND DU LAC – The Lakeland University baseball team continued its late season struggles but still survived to fight another day even after losing twice to Marian University Sunday afternoon at Herr-Baker Field.

The Muskies fell to the Sabres twice by 10-3 scores as Marian concluded a four-game weekend series sweep. Despite the losses, Lakeland still qualified for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference North Division Tournament, hanging on for the fourth seed after Wisconsin Lutheran College lost the second game of a doubleheader with Concordia University Wisconsin on Sunday to finish one game behind the Muskies in the division standings.

Lakeland (14-18 overall, 8-12 NACC North) will play in the double-elimination divisional playoff at Concordia Wisconsin's Kapco Field in Mequon this Friday through Sunday. The Muskies against division champion Marian at 4 p.m. and then win or lose will play again Saturday.

Lakeland will look to solve the Sabres after falling in four straight games over Friday and Sunday to extend their losing streak to a season-long six games. Marian played from ahead for almost the entirety of the series and scored 40 runs over four games on the strength of timely hitting and aggressive base running. The Sabres also took advantage of the Muskies' struggling offense and fielding errors to clinch the division title.

Marian (19-21 overall, 14-6 NACC North) never trailed on Sunday, scoring two runs in the first inning of the opener and four times to open the second game. The Sabres led 5-0 in the first game before Lakeland got on the board when Collin Schutz (Sr.-Saint Amant, La.) walked and later scored on a Nathan Hemmerling (So.-Riverside, Calif.) groundout, and the hosts added five runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 10-1 lead.

The second game saw Marian get off to an even better start, scoring in each of the first five innings to take a 10-0 lead. The Muskies briefly made a charge in the sixth inning, scoring three times including a bases-loaded walk by Tyler LaMack (Fr.-Pewaukee, Wis.), Kellen Hodges (Fr.-Littleton, Colo.) scoring on a wild pitch and Drew Nielsen (Sr.-Orange City, Iowa) driving in a run while also reaching on a throwing error. With the bases loaded with one out, though, Lakeland grounded into a double play to end the inning, one of seven Marian double plays in the series, and the Muskies never threatened again with just one base runner in the final three innings.

Jack Banks (Sr.-Mountain View, Calif.) finished with a pair of two-hit games and Kaylab Owings (Fr.-Bagdad, Ariz.) also added four hits on the day, including going 3-for-4 in the second game for his second three-hit game of the season. LaMack also added two hits and two RBIs.

Hemmerling took the loss in the first game, allowing 10 hits and eight runs (seven earned) in 6 2/3 innings with six strikeouts. Peyton Domangue (Fr.-Thibodaux, La.) started the second game and surrendered four hits and five runs (three earned) in 1 1/3 innings.

Nick Bastien led Marian with five hits and five stolen bases on the day, part of the Sabres' 15 steals over two games Sunday.