LOVES PARK, Ill. – Hannah Hornsby (Sr.-Brookville, Ind.) slugged her second home run of the day and the Lakeland University softball team snapped out of its struggles with a 12-5 win over Rockford University in the second game of the teams' Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon.

The Muskies needed a pick-me-up and got one in the second game after falling to the Regents 3-2 in nine innings in the day's first game. Lakeland ended a five-game losing streak and improved to 14-11 overall and 9-7 in conference with four NACC doubleheaders remaining in the regular season.

Hornsby had come up big in the first game with a two-run homer to keep the Muskies alive, and in the second game she cranked her fifth home run of the season, a three-run blast in the third inning to give Lakeland a 4-2 lead. The Muskies would never trail and in fact would add on significantly by putting up crooked numbers in three of their final four at bats, too.

Hannah Volom (Fr.-Portage, Ind.) and Juliana Hall (Jr.-Portage, Ind.) both posted three hits each and Hannah Nelson (So.-Loves Park, Ill.), Madi Johnson (So.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) and Cheyenne Mathas (Sr.-St. John, Ind.) added two hits each. Mathas also drove in three runs and Hall also doubled twice and drove in two as Lakeland pounded out 15 hits, its second-highest total of the season.

Elizabeth Groonwald (Sr.-Hartford, Wis.) also provided a lift for the Lakeland pitching staff with another strong relief pitching outing. Groonwald came on in the third inning and went the rest of the way, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) to earn her second win of the season.

The Muskies appeared on their way to a shutout loss in the first game as Rockford (12-18 overall, 4-12 NACC) took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning, having scored its lone runs with single tallies in the second and sixth frames. Jordan August (Fr.-Portage, Ind.) led off with a single, though, and Hornsby followed with a two-run homer to tie the game.

The contest would go into the ninth inning, but Lakeland was unable to put a runner on base after Hornsby's hit and the Regents took advantage in the bottom of the ninth. Olivia Swanson doubled with one out and with two outs Candace Kipp hit a ground-rule double to score the winning run for the hosts.

Makenna Hullinger (Fr.-St. John, Ind.) pitched a complete game and allowed seven hits with five strikeouts. Mariah Martinez also pitched the whole way for Rockford and allowed eight hits with three strikeouts to earn the win.

The Muskies have a day off Monday before traveling to take on Wisconsin Lutheran College on Tuesday for two games starting at 3 p.m. in Milwaukee.