CLERMONT, Fla. – Millikin (Ill.) University's Cassie Reed hit a bases-loaded single to bring in the winning run and deal the Lakeland University softball team the first of two razor-thin losses on the final day of its play at the Clermont Spring Games.

The Muskies dropped a 5-4 decision to Millikin in their first game of the day, and then fell to Lake Forest (Ill.) College 5-4 in their Florida finale. Lakeland finished with a 5-4 record on its spring break trip, an encouraging start to the season even as the Muskies faced multiple schedule changes during the week and dropped their final three games in close fashion.

Millikin (7-1 overall) rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the sixth inning to stun Lakeland in a game the Muskies controlled most of the way. Skylar Hall (Fr.-Negaunee, Mich.) sailed through five scoreless innings allowing just three hits, and Lakeland scored single runs in the second and third innings and two more in the fourth to build a comfortable lead.

The Big Blue came back to tie in the sixth in part due to two Muskies errors that led to four unearned runs against Hall. Millikin then loaded the bases with one out in the seventh on a pair of singles and a walk, and Reed hit a single through the left side to score Katie Detamore with the winning run.

Madi Johnson (So.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) and Elizabeth Rohr (Fr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) both finished with two hits and one RBI each, with Johnson hitting a triple and Rohr adding a double. Hannah Nelson (So.-Loves Park, Ill.) took the loss in relief, allowing three hits and a run in two-thirds of an inning.

The nightcap saw Lakeland and Lake Forest go back and forth, trading the lead three times in the final four innings. The Muskies built a 2-0 lead in the second after Cheyenne Mathas (Sr.-St. John, Ind.) scored on a wild pitch in the first and Johnson doubled in the second to score Maddie Blankenship (Sr.-West Bend, Wis.), but the Foresters answered with a run in the third and two more in the top of the fourth to go ahead 3-2.

Lakeland retook the lead with two in the bottom of the fourth, with Makenna Hullinger (Fr.-St. John, Ind.) singling to drive in Jacy Klaske (Sr.-Fond du Lac, Wis.) and Hannah Volom (Fr.-Portage, Ind.). Lake Forest would score twice in the top of the sixth, though, with Angelle Bills hitting a sacrifice fly to tie it and then Kelly Collins scored the go-ahead run on a two-out infield error. The Muskies put one runner on in each the sixth and seventh but were unable to mount a threat to tie.

Johnson finished with two more hits in the second game and Mathas also added two hits. Hullinger pitched a complete game and allowed eight hits and five runs (three earned) with five strikeouts in dropping to 2-1 this season.

Lakeland now has a two-week break before opening Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play Saturday, March 26 hosting Edgewood College for a doubleheader starting at noon.