The Dominican University Stars picked up a pair of wins to open Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) play on Thursday, with junior right-hander Jori Cicale (Steger, Ill.) picking up the win in both ends of a doubleheader with the Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors.

The Stars fell behind in game one as the Warriors plated a run on three hits, including an RBI double with two outs. Cicale escaped further damage, inducing the Warriors’ four-hitter to fly out to center with a pair of runners on.

The Stars continued to trail into the top of the sixth when junior Sarah Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) led off the inning with a triple. After a lineout, Mary Costello (Chicago, Ill.) drove home Budz on a single. Costello later scored on a single by Emily Mahoney (Crystal Lake, Ill.) to stake the Stars to a 2-1 lead.

Cicale then stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Stars in the lead.

Dominican added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of a throwing error that setup an RBI single from Kristen Look (Frankfort, Ill.).

Cicale scattered eight hits in the complete-game victory, striking out six. The Stars’ ace stranded seven runners, improving to 2-1 with the win.

Game two followed similar suit with the Stars falling behind before rallying for the 9-6 win with four runs in the sixth inning. Cicale, entering the game in relief, went seven innings, surrendering three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five.

Offensively, the Stars banged out 17 hits in the game, none bigger than a bases-loaded double by freshman Beth Santor (Oak Lawn, Ill.) to put Dominican ahead 8-4.

Dominican now stands at 7-3 on the season and will play the North Park University Vikings in a non-conference tilt on Friday before returning to conference play with a pair of games against Rockford on Saturday.