OSHKOSH, Wis. – The Lakeland University softball team got an early jump on its season and nearly a couple high-profile victories, narrowly falling twice to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon.

The Titans edged the Muskies 2-1 in the first game of the doubleheader, then held on for a 5-4 win in the second game. The contests were played inside the UWO Rec Plex bubble dome and served as the season openers for both teams.

Lakeland debuted for the season more than two weeks before beginning play on its annual spring break trip to Florida, and did so against a UW-Oshkosh team that finished 26-10 last year and placed second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the regular season.

The Muskies-18-15 a year ago and qualifiers for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament-were competitive in both games, and even rallied in the final inning to score runs and put the tying run on base.

The Titans scored single runs in the second and sixth innings of the first game against Skylar Hall (Jr.-Negaunee, Mich.), who pitched a complete game and allowed four hits with six strikeouts. UWO's Sophie Wery doubled to lead off the second and scored when Morgan Rau followed with a double, and Wery then added a solo homer in the fifth for a 2-0 lead.

Lakeland rallied in the seventh, loading the bases with one out after Melanie Watters (So.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) walked, Jordan August (So.-Schererville, Ind.) singled and Hannah Volom (So.-Portage, Ind.) walked. Hannah Nelson (Jr.-Loves Park, Ill.) grounded out to second to score Watters, but Oshkosh pitcher Abby Freismuth got Carlie Morrow (Fr.-Menasha, Wis.) to strike out to end the game.

The Titans then took a 5-0 lead in the second game after touching up Muskies starter Makenna Hullinger (So.-St. John, Ind.) for a run in the first and two runs in both the third and fifth frames. Lakeland, meanwhile, was held to just one hit through five innings by UWO starter Sydney Nemetz, but the Muskies again came alive in their last at bat to put a scare into the hosts.

Gabby Greetan (Sr.-Manitowoc, Wis.) led off the seventh with a single and Peyton Harlow (Fr.-La Porte, Ind.) and August followed with singles, with pinch runner Abby Heitman (Fr.-St. Francis, Wis.) scoring on the latter. Abby Runkel (So.-Burlington, Wis.) then hit a sacrifice fly to score Harlow, Volom reached on an error, and Nelson hit a sac fly to score August. Madi Johnson (Jr.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) then singled to score Volom and make it 5-4, but Freismuth came on in relief again and got Juliana Hall (Sr.-Portage, Ind.) out on a fielder's choice to end the game.

Hullinger pitched five innings and allowed eight hits with six strikeouts and three walks before Johnson came on to throw a scoreless sixth. August, Harlow and Nelson all led Lakeland with two hits each on the day.

Lakeland now gets ready for its spring break trip to the Orlando area in Florida, beginning play Sunday, March 12 when it faces Roger Williams (R.I.) University at 1 p.m. Central time, 2 p.m. Eastern time in Florida.

Box score Game 1 UWO 2 Lakeland 1
Box score Game 2 UWO 5 Lakeland 4