MILWAUKEE – One day after cracking 12 hits for 11 runs to defeat Concordia University Wisconsin, fourth-seeded Lakeland College saw its offense dry up as the Muskies were shut out by No. 1 seed Benedictine University, 2-0, as the second day of Northern Athletics Conference Tournament play finally began this afternoon following a soggy morning at Alverno Field.
The Eagles’ sophomore ace, Brittany Adcox (Plainfield, Ill./Central), was mostly the culprit for Lakeland’s lack of offensive production, blanking the Muskies with 10 strikeouts and allowing just two hits in seven impressive innings in the circle to improve to 21-2 on the season.
Not to be outdone, Lakeland (25-17) senior Sara Roberts (Escanaba, Mich.) pitched a solid gem herself, giving up just five hits with two strikeouts and one earned run in six innings of work.
Benedictine (35-5) took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, as junior Cassie Cappetto (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist) tallied her team’s lone RBI on a single, sending sophomore Laura Christensen (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg), who recorded the one other hit in the inning, across the plate.
The Eagles found their second run in the sixth inning when freshman Ashley Parrott (Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), pinch running for Cappetto, stole a base, then took advantage of a disastrous throwing error by the Muskies to score all the way from first base.
Senior Chelsea Coenen (Wrightstown, Wis.) and freshman Jenny LaLuzerne (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) were the only two Muskie batters to find hits off Adcox, with Coenen erasing any potential of a no-hitter with a single in the fourth inning.
Cappetto led the Eagles in the batter’s box with a pair of hits while sophomore Stephanie Rybarczyk (Chicago, Ill./St. Francis de Sales), senior Aimee Mahoney (Gardner, Ill./Gardner-South Wilmington) and Christensen also registered hits for Benedictine.
With its first loss of the tournament, Lakeland will now face No. 3 Dominican University with both teams fighting to avoid elimination in game six of the tournament. That game will now be played tomorrow at 11 a.m. due to scheduling changes demanded by today’s inclement weather.
Benedictine will have to wait until 3 p.m. tomorrow to face No. 2 Aurora University, who knocked off No. 6 Marian University, 6-4, in this afternoon’s second game. To view the updated NAC Tournament game schedule, please click here.
