The Dominican University softball team remained unbeaten in Northern Athletics Conference (NAC), posting a doubleheader victory over the Concordia University Chicago Cougars 7-6 and 6-5 on Saturday afternoon in Forest Park.

Freshman Beth Santor provided the late-game heroics for the Stars in game one, lining a one-out, walk-off single to right to plate Mary Costello (Chicago, Ill.) and Andrea Pinarski (Goshen, Ind.).

The Cougars had taken a 6-5 lead in the top of the sixth on Sami DeFord’s grand slam with two outs. The Stars then went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and Jori Cicale (Steger, Ill.) sat the Cougars down in order in the top of the seventh to set the stage for the late-game drama.

Costello lead off the Stars’ half of the seventh with a walk. After Emily Mahoney pushed Costello to second with a sacrifice bunt, Pinarski singled up the middle and took second on the throw to put runners on second and third for Santor. Santor sent a liner into right and headed for second with Pinarski rounding third. The throw went to second to retire Santor but Pinarski crossed the plate for the winning run.

Cicale went the distance for the Stars to pick up her sixth win of the season. The Stars’ right-hander surrendered six runs over seven innings on nine hits while striking out two.

Pinarski went 2-for-4 at the plate with a two-run home run in the third inning that put the Stars ahead 4-1.

In game two, the Stars jumped out to a 6-2 lead behind back-to-back RBI singles from Melissa Summaria (Algonquin, Ill.) and Sarah Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) in the bottom of the fourth.

The Cougars cut into the Stars’ lead with a pair of runs off of Mahoney in the top of the fifth. The Cougars then entered the top of the seventh trailing 6-4. After a leadoff double, a pair of costly errors allowed one run to score and the Cougars loaded the bases before Mahoney ended the threat with a strikeout and pop out.

Mahoney picked up the win in the circle for Dominican, improving to 7-3 on the season. The sophomore right-hander allowed five runs, three earned, on eight hits and three walks while striking out four.

The Stars, now 14-4 overall and 8-0 in the NAC, travel to Lisle, Ill., on Sunday to take on the Benedictine University Eagles. Dominican then returns home to Forest Park, hosting the Aurora University Spartans on Monday.