WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Abby Heitman (Fr.-St. Francis, Wis.) sent home the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning and the Lakeland University softball team completed a comeback from a five-run deficit to defeat the University of Wisconsin-Stout 6-5 Sunday afternoon at The Spring Games.

The Muskies defeated Stout to cap a successful first day of their spring break trip to central Florida. Lakeland also topped Roger Williams (R.I.) University 5-2 in the day's opener for its first win of the season, and finished the day sitting at 2-2 on the season.

Heitman's bases-loaded walk capped a wild last couple innings at the plate for the Muskies, who broke through early offensive frustrations to score three times in the fifth, added three more in the sixth, and needed to overcome a strange situation where they thought they had tied the game in the fifth only to have two runs taken off the board upon appeal.

The Muskies played from behind almost from the start against UW-Stout, with the Blue Devils scoring three times in the top of the first inning and adding two more runs in the fourth for a 5-0 lead. Lakeland missed a number of opportunities to chip away at the deficit through the first four innings but finally got on the board in the fifth, first with Peyton Harlow (Fr.-La Porte, Ind.) scoring from third on a passed ball with the bases loaded, and then getting two more with a two-run double by Madi Johnson (Jr.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) to make it 5-3.

The Muskies' fifth continued with Gabby Greetan (Sr.-Manitowoc, Wis.) reaching on a walk, and Sydney Meyer (Fr.-Crown Point, Ind.)  followed with a grounder to shortstop Alexa Anderson, whose throw was initially ruled in time to end the inning. Lakeland appealed, and after discussion Meyer was ruled to have reached due to the throw pulling the first baseman off the bag, and Johnson thought she had scored to make it 5-4.

Jordan August (So.-Schererville, Ind.) then came off the bench to pinch hit and on her first pitch lined a single to center, scoring Heitman from second to apparently tie the game. This time it was UW-Stout with an appeal, though, saying Johnson did not score on the play prior and that she should've been on third base when August batted. After a lengthy discussion of more than 10 minutes, the umpires granted the appeal, resulting in Johnson being called out and both runs being taken off the board, putting the Muskies back behind 5-3.

Undeterred, Lakeland went back to work and staged another rally in the sixth. With her initial hit and substitution discounted, August came back in and opened with a pinch hit single before Haylee Dodd (Fr.-Kenosha, Wis.) re-entered to run at first. Harlow and Juliana Hall (Sr.-Portage, Ind.) then both reached after being hit by pitches, and Carlie Morrow (Fr.-Menasha, Wis.) came on to pinch hit. The freshman shortstop got behind in the count 0-2 but stayed alive and then delivered in a big way with a single off the end of the bat up the middle to score Dodd and Harlow to tie the game.

Paige Kislow (Fr.-Weston, Wis.) was then hit by a pitch, the third hit batter of the inning for Stout reliever Donna D'Addabbo and again loading the bases. D'Addabbo was relieved by Anna Blanford, who got Johnson to strike out swinging, but Heitman followed and worked the count full, then took ball four to score Hall with the go-ahead run.

The drama still wasn't done in the seventh, when reliever Hannah Nelson (Jr.-Loves Park, Ill.) retired leadoff hitter Emma Muehlenbeck quickly but the Blue Devils (0-8 overall) then put runners at first and second with one out and dangerous cleanup hitter Lexy Kupczak at the plate. Kupczak drilled a pitch from Nelson up the middle, but Morrow had her played perfectly, fielded the hard shot on one hop, stepped on second and fired to first for the game-ending 6-3 double play.

The Muskies began the day with a comfortable win that included a five-run third inning and a frequently overpowering pitching performance from Skylar Hall (Negaunee, Mich.).

The junior pitched a complete game and threw 5 1/3 no-hit innings before allowing her first hit of the game. Hall allowed a pair of runs in the sixth after a pair of bloop hits by the Hawks (0-4 overall) but finished allowing just the two hits while striking out 10.

Lakeland scored all the runs it would need in the third inning, tallying five times. Kislow opened the inning with a single and Nelson hit a two-run home run to left center, her first homer of the season, and Melanie Watters (So.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) later delivered a two-run double to make it 4-0. Kislow then would add a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run before the inning finally ended after 11 Muskies had gone to the plate.

Nelson went 2-for-4 in the first game while Juliana Hall finished the day with three hits and three runs scored.

Lakeland is back in action Monday for a pair of games, first taking on Augsburg (Minn.) University at 10:30 a.m. Central (11:30 a.m. Eastern) before facing Defiance (Ohio) College at 1 p.m. Central (2 p.m. Eastern). Site of both games is the Auburndale Softball Complex in Jan Phyl Village, Fla.