ROCKFORD, Ill. -- The Rockford University softball team hosted the Lakeland University Muskies for senior day on Saturday afternoon, dropping game one, 9-2, and game two, 4-1.
The Regents will return to action tomorrow, April 26, for another home doubleheader against Benedictine University starting at noon CDT.
Game One: Lakeland 9, Rockford 2
Payton Willenkamp was 1-for-3 with a double.
Liz Mois went 1-for-4 with an RBI single.
Neelah Vandeberg singled in her lone plate appearance.
Claire Shanahan pitched the first two innings for RU. She relinquished five runs on seven hits.
Lorelei Monk took the baton, finishing the final five innings. She surrendered just three earned runs while striking out three batters.
After a scoreless first, the Muskies got things rolling in the second. They rattled off five runs on six hits in the inning to pull ahead early.
Lakeland grabbed a couple more runs in the fourth. McKenzie Staudinger drove in two runs with a single up the middle to give the Muskies a 7-0 lead.
The Regents were held hitless across the first three innings. Willenkamp ended the no-hitter with a double down the left field line.
Sophia Hulsey followed it up with a single. Two consecutive walks of
Olivia Lysaght and
Kieran Madigan gave the Regents their first run of the ballgame and cut the deficit to six.
Rockford got out of a first and third jam with no outs to keep it 7-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The Regents were unable to put runs on the board in the fifth or sixth. The Muskies added two insurance runs in the seventh to hold a 9-1 lead.
Mois drove in
Alexis Schuldt from third with a single through the left side to give RU its second run of the game. That would be the final run, as Lakeland closed out with a 9-2 victory.
Game Two: Lakeland 4, Rockford 1
Brooklyn Lee drove in RU's lone run, going 1-for-3 with an RBI double. Mois was also 1-for-3 with a double.
Kendall Knoll finished 1-for-2 with a walk.
Knoll also got the start in the circle for the Regents. She gave RU six innings of work, giving up four runs. Vandeberg closed it out, giving up a hit in her inning of action.
Lakeland loaded the bases to start the game. Knoll and the defense worked its way out of the jam to keep the Muskies scoreless.
LU was able to put two runs on the board in the second inning off of four hits, leading 2-0 after two.
Both offenses were nonexistent over the next few innings. The Muskies put three zeros on the board after their two-run second. The Regents were scoreless through four.
Rockford finally crossed the plate in the bottom of the fifth. Lee hammered a ground-rule double over the left fielder's head, scoring Madigan from second.Â
Holding a 2-1 lead in the seventh, Lakeland gave itself some cushion, plating two runs to extend its lead to three, 4-1.
The Regents went three up, three down in the bottom of the seventh to give Lakeland their second win of the day.
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