RIVER FOREST, Ill. – Maddie Raske (Fr.-Tinley Park, Ill.) homered in the first game and Peyton Harlow (So.-La Porte, Ind.) drove in three runs on the day as the Lakeland University softball team earned another sweep, taking two games from Concordia University Chicago on the road Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies doubled up the Cougars by scores of 6-3 and 4-2 to improve to 25-5 overall this season and 14-2 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland took care of business and set the stage for a showdown for first place in the NACC at home tomorrow against nationally ranked Dominican (Ill.) University, with the Stars (13-1 in conference) one game ahead of the Muskies in the loss column but a game behind in the win column.

Lakeland battled through a slow start to the first game, falling behind 2-0 but rebounding quickly with a three runs in the second inning and setting the stage for an afternoon where little came easily but the Muskies regularly made the plays when needed.

Concordia Chicago (8-19-1 overall, 4-10 NACC) received a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning from Arissa Santos and added a second run on a bases-loaded walk, but Lakeland responded quickly in the second. Abby Heitman (So.-St. Francis, Ill.) and Raske reached on singles and Harlow followed with a two-run single to tie the game. Harlow moved to second on the throw on the play, was sacrificed to third, and then scored on a groundout to the right side by Sydney Meyer (So.-Crown Point, Ind.) to give the Muskies a 3-2 lead.

Lakeland would never trail again the rest of the afternoon, and Raske drove in two runs as part of a three-hit game. The freshman singled to score Juliana Hall (Sr.-Portage, Ind.) in the third to make it 4-2, and in the sixth led off the inning with a home run to left for her first collegiate homer and a 5-2 lead. Hall added a run-scoring single in the seventh for an insurance run to make it 6-2.

Hannah Nelson (Sr.-Loves Park, Ill.) saw her 21-game hitting streak end, going 0-for-4 in the opener. Instead, the senior was one of the team's keys in the victory for her pitching, coming on in the second inning and pitching six innings to earn the win. Nelson allowed just five hits and struck out five, and twice stranded the bases loaded, including in the second inning and again in the seventh after Concordia had finally broken through to score for the first time since the opening inning. Nelson finished the game with a strikeout of pinch hitter Julia Pataluna to improve to 4-1 this season.

The second game saw both teams scoreless through three innings until the Muskies struck for two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth. Raske led off the fourth with a single, her fourth hit of the day, and pinch runner Reyna Rupnow (Fr.-Ixonia, Wis.) eventually scored on a groundout by Mackenzie Staudinger (Fr.-Manitowoc, Wis.). Carlie Morrow (So.-Menasha, Wis.) then followed with a two-out single to make it 2-0, and Lakeland added on with a run in the fifth when Madi Johnson (Sr.-Vernon Hills, Ill.) led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hall.

Concordia Chicago quickly cut into the Lakeland lead in the bottom of the fifth when Emily Garcia hit a two-run homer, but the Cougars would not score again against Johnson, who went the distance and allowed five hits and two runs with three strikeouts to improve to 10-1 this season. CUC put two runners on in the bottom of the seventh with nobody out, but Johnson retired three straight Cougars in order to close the game.

Hall capped a four-hit day with two hits in the second game and Morrow and Jordan August (Jr.-Schererville, Ind.) also added two hits each in the second game.

Lakeland hosts Dominican tomorrow, taking on a Stars team ranked No. 21 in the latest NFCA NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. The doubleheader begins at noon.