PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Nathan Hemmerling (Jr.-Riverside, Calif.) drove in five runs and the Lakeland University baseball team used a big third inning and an even bigger fourth to defeat Rockford University and salvage a split of the teams' Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies routed the Regents 15-4 in seven innings in the second game to avenge a 6-4 loss in the day's first game. Lakeland finished the day at 15-12 overall and is now 5-8 in the NACC with another doubleheader at Marian University on the schedule tomorrow in Fond du Lac.

The Muskies rebounded from a disappointing loss in the first game by eventually wearing out Rockford pitching in the second game.

Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the third inning, Lakeland scored four times to take the lead, and that was just the beginning. The Muskies would score eight times in the fourth to take a 13-2 lead and would cruise to a run-rule win with the game completed with a lead of more than ten runs after seven innings.

Hemmerling finished with a double amidst a 3-for-4 performance in the second game that included an RBI single to get Lakeland on the board in the second, a two-run single as part of the four-run third, and then a two-run double in the big fourth inning. Zak Keegan (Fr.-Frankfort, Ill.), Dylan Penny (Sr.-River Falls, Wis.) and Jack Banks (Sr.-Mountain View, Calif.) also all drove in two runs each and Hunter Frisk (Jr.-Manteca, Calif.) also scored three times, reaching all three times via bases on balls. The Muskies finished with ten hits in the game but also took advantage of 12 walks and three hit batters by Regents pitchers.

Lakeland also received another quality outing from Peyton Domangue (So.-Thibodaux, La.), who won his third straight start with his third consecutive complete game. The reigning NACC Pitcher of the Week threw all seven innings and allowed nine hits and four runs (three earned) with seven strikeouts to improve to 4-2 on the season with a 2.72 earned run average.

The bounce back in game two was an especially welcome one after a sour finish to a first game where the Muskies built a sizable lead early only to see it slip away in the middle innings.

Lakeland received a solo homer from Hemmerling to lead off the bottom of the first and would score twice in both the first and second innings to build a 4-0 lead. Keegan also drove in a run in the first and the Muskies would score two more in the second after loading the bases with nobody out, though an opportunity for a really big inning passed when Rockford starter Jared Herzog got out of the jam by striking out two to close the frame.

The Regents (11-12 overall, 3-9 NACC) scored three in the fifth after opening the inning with a pair of hit batsmen, and Rockford took its first lead in the sixth when Jake Bilotta hit a two-out, two-run homer for a 5-4 lead. The Muskies, meanwhile, would struggle after the first few innings and finished with just four hits after the second and a total of 18 strikeouts in the game, including eight of the final nine outs recorded on K's.

Keegan and Collin Schutz (Sr.-Saint Amant, La.) posted two hits each while Brody Fay (Fr.-Surprise, Ariz.) took the loss, allowing six hits and five runs in six innings with five strikeouts. Gio Ramirez (Sr.-Chicago, Ill.) also pitched in relief and threw three innings, allowing two hits and one run with two strikeouts.

Herzog recovered from a shaky start to earn the win, going five innings and striking out ten. Bilotta drove in four runs in all and Joseph Stagowski added three hits.