MONTGOMERY, Ill. – Benedictine University scored seven times in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Lakeland University softball team's run in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament was ended with a 7-2 loss Thursday night at Aurora University's Bedrosian Stadium.

The seventh-seeded Muskies defeated No. 6 seed Marian University 4-1 in their first game of the day, and with a lead late against Benedictine were on the doorstep of moving on to the double-elimination portion of the tourney starting Friday. Instead it was the third-seeded Eagles advancing to face No. 2 seed Dominican University on Friday, while Lakeland's season ended with a 20-22 overall record.

The NACC Tournament runners up a year ago, the Muskies received outstanding pitching for their first 12 innings of the day. And with a 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning against Benedictine, Lakeland was in prime position to advance from its low seed into the four-team double-elimination round of the tournament after Thursday's single-elimination format.

Everything unraveled in the sixth inning, though, as the Eagles sent 11 hitters to the plate in turning the game around. Benedictine came into the inning with just four hits but posted nearly double that number with seven hits in the inning, including two infield hits as part of six singles plus a two-run double by Lauren Bogard. The Muskies also committed three errors in the inning, and never recovered, going down 1-2-3 in their final at bat.

Lexi Howard (Fr.-Crown Point, Ind.) had a big day for Lakeland with two hits in both games, and her double in the second inning against Benedictine (28-13 overall) gave the Muskies a 1-0 lead. Lakeland added a second run in the sixth, as Howard led off with a single and later scored following an error after Reyna Rupnow (So.-Ixonia, Wis.) reached on an infield single.

Lily Pettit (Fr.-Rewey, Wis.) shut down the Eagles in a six-hit shutout earlier this season, and she was terrific through five innings Thursday, allowing just four hits, retiring 11 straight at one point and getting out of a potential jam in the fifth. The Eagles loaded the bases with nobody out in that inning, but a comebacker by Benedictine's Mckenzie Johnson started a 1-2-3 double play and a fly out ended the inning.

Pettit finished taking the loss, though, allowing nine hits and six runs (five earned). Lakeland also finished with just five hits, missing opportunities earlier in the game against Johnson, who labored and was wild at times in throwing 135 pitches and issuing five walks, but recorded nine strikeouts and gave up just two unearned runs.

The Muskies earlier advanced to face Benedictine after a strong performance against Marian to avenge a pair of regular season losses to the Sabres.

Marian broke the ice with a run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead, but Lakeland answered scoring three times in the top of the fourth. Maddie Raske (So.-Tinley Park, Ill.) singled with one out and Sydney Meyer (Jr.-Crown Point, Ind.) hit a double to tie the game at 1-1. Howard then followed with a triple, her sixth of the season giving the Muskies their first lead, and McKenzie Staudinger (So.-Manitowoc, Wis.) continued her late-season surge with an RBI single to make it 3-1.

Raske later led off the sixth with a double and Howard followed with an RBI single to score pinch runner Kaylee Hunt (Fr.-St. Paul Park, Minn.). The three-run lead was plenty for Natalie Ziebell (Fr.-New Holstein, Wis.), who pitched a complete game and allowed seven hits and just a single run to win her ninth game and finish the season with a 3.19 earned run average.

Staudinger went 3-for-3 in the opener and Howard and Raske added two hits each. Lakeland outhit Marian 10-7 and got the win over Sabres pitcher Sabrina Di Vito, who pitched a one-hit shutout in the teams' first regular season meeting in April but lasted just four innings this time, allowing seven hits and three runs.

The game was the final one for three seniors: Jordan August (Schererville, Ind.), Breanna Gaedtke (Luxemburg, Wis.) and Melanie Watters (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.).

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