PLYMOUTH, Wis. –
Hannah Hornsby (
Sr.-Brookville, Ind.) tied a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference single-game record with three home runs and the Lakeland University softball team feasted on St. Norbert College pitching in taking both ends of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at home.
The Muskies rallied from an early deficit to defeat the Green Knights 14-6 in six innings in the first game and then added a 5-3 win in the second game. Lakeland swept its second doubleheader in two days and moved to 11-6 overall and 6-2 in NACC play.
A cold and windy day proved to be conditions to help Hornsby snap out of early-season struggles with a career day. The senior catcher entered the day with three hits in 32 at bats on the season, but surpassed that in the first game of the doubleheader, going 4-for-4 with three home runs, a single and six runs batted in.
St. Norbert (3-25 overall, 3-11 NACC) jumped out to early leads of 3-0 and 6-2 in the first game, chasing starting pitcher
Skylar Hall (
So.-Negaunee, Mich.) in the second inning, but Hornsby helped the Muskies close the gap quickly in the second with a two-run homer to right center. Lakeland would add three more runs in the inning with
Madi Johnson (
So.-Vernon Hills, Ill.),
Juliana Hall (
Jr.-Portage, Ind.) and
Jordan August (
Fr.-Schererville, Ind.) all driving in runs, including August's single to center giving the Muskies a 7-6 lead they would not relinquish.
Hornsby added a solo home run on a deep blast to straight away center field in the third inning, and then was part of a game-clinching six-run sixth inning to suddenly take what had been a close game and turn it final on account of the eight-run rule after five innings.
Hornsby tied a NACC single-game record held by four other players. The mark was first set by Sarah Budz of Dominican University against Alverno College April 20, 2011, and was most recently tied by Grace Delleman of Edgewood College versus Silver Lake College April 3, 2019. She also is just the second player in NCAA Division III to hit three homers in a game this season, joining Ella Link of Wartburg (Iowa) College, who hit three against Trine (Ind.) University March 19.
Hall hit a two-run homer on a line drive over the fence in center to give Lakeland a 10-6 lead, and August followed a triple by
Cheyenne Mathas (
Sr.-St. John, Ind.) with a sacrifice fly.
Makenna Hullinger (
Fr.-St. John, Ind.) and
Elizabeth Rohr (
Fr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) then singled with two outs to bring up Hornsby again, and she sent another long fly over the wall in center for a three-run homer to end the game in the sixth.
The Muskies pounded out 16 hits in the first game, including three each by Mathas and
Hannah Nelson (
So.-Loves Park, Ill.), and senior
Elizabeth Groonwald (
Hartford, Wis.) also came up big in relief with a steadying pitching performance. Groonwald pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and earned her first collegiate win.
Lakeland added 13 more hits in the second game and capitalized enough to keep the Green Knights at bay in a lower-scoring contest.
The Muskies took the lead in the first inning when Mathas doubled to score Hall. After St. Norbert answered with a run in the second, Lakeland scored three times in the third, including a two-run single by Mathas plus an RBI double by August for a 4-1 lead.
The Green Knights would not go away and scored twice in the fifth to draw within one, but Hornsby was back with a double down the left field line to score Mathas with an insurance run in the fifth, and Hullinger would limit the guests to just a single hit over the final two innings, striking out Meredith Manke for the game's final out.
Hall and Mathas both posted three hits and scored two runs apiece and Johnson and Rohr added two hits each. Hullinger also pitched a complete game, allowing six hits and striking out three for her second complete-game win in two days and to improve to 5-2 on the season.
The Muskies return to the road Monday when they travel to face Dominican for a twinbill starting at 4 p.m. at The Stadium at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, Ill.
NACC Single-Game Softball Record Book
