PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Lakeland University and Concordia University Chicago traded big innings in each game and the result was a split of the teams' softball doubleheader Thursday afternoon on the Muskies' home field.
Lakeland won the first game 6-2, with a five-run first inning providing all the offense the Muskies would need. The Cougars came back to take the second game 6-3 on the strength of a four-run second inning.
Lakeland comes out of the split in the midst of a three-team battle for what are presently the final two spots in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament. The Muskies, Dominican University and Edgewood College are all tied for fifth in the NACC standings at 12-8 with four games remaining for each team. The top six teams qualify for the conference tourney next weekend in Montgomery, Ill.
Two days after hammering out 28 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran College, Lakeland (17-12 overall) was much quieter at the plate on a cold day. The Muskies finished with eight hits in the first game and six in the second and opportunities were in general few and far between.
Lakeland did put together a good first at bat in the first game, responding quickly after the Cougars (13-18 overall, 7-11 NACC) got off to a fast start with two runs in the top of the first.
Concordia actually threatened a really big inning, with two runs in and the bases loaded with still nobody out, but
Skylar Hall (
So.-Negaunee, Mich.) got out of the jam with an infield grounder to get a force at home, a strikeout and a pop up to end the inning. The Muskies would then bat around in the bottom of the first.
Madi Johnson (
So.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) scored on a throwing error,
Cheyenne Mathas (
Sr.-St. John, Ind.) singled to tie the score and
Hannah Hornsby (
Sr.-Brookville, Ind.) stayed hot with an RBI single.
Elizabeth Rohr (
Fr.-Kewaunee, Wis.) would later hit a two-run single to score Hornsby and
Makenna Hullinger (
Fr.-St. John, Ind.) for a 5-2 lead.
Lakeland would add another run in the second on another RBI single by Mathas, and that would be the end of the game's scoring. Hall pitched a complete game, allowing six hits with four strikeouts to improve to 7-3 this season.
The Muskies would also take an early lead in the second game when Johnson reached on an infield single and Mathas followed two batters later with a fly down the right field line that eluded a diving attempt by CUC right fielder Nia DeGeorge and turned into a triple. The Cougars would respond, though, batting around and scoring four times in the second. DeGeorge singled through the right side to start the scoring, and three straight singles up the middle included a two-run single by Gina Westphal plus an RBI hit by Sydney Sterrett for a 4-1 lead.
Concordia would score another run in the fourth on a single up the middle by Becky Pieroni and tacked on another run in the sixth for a 6-1 lead. Lakeland would cut into that in the bottom of the sixth with RBI singles by Johnson and Hornsby but would get no closer.
The Cougars' Holly Bathje outdueled Hullinger in the second game, allowing just six hits and three runs (one earned) to earn the win and retiring eleven consecutive Muskies at one point. Hullinger pitched a complete game and allowed ten hits and six runs (four earned) with six strikeouts.
Lakeland closes out its home schedule on Saturday when it hosts Concordia University Wisconsin for two games starting at noon. The Falcons are ranked 15th in the NCAA Division III/NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, and it will also be Senior Day with seven Muskies seniors honored.
