Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MILWAUKEE -- Behind 25 strikeouts from their pitchers today, the Stars defeated Marian University and Lakeland College to extend their 2012 season into the final day of the Northern Athletics Conference Softball Tournament.

Jori Cicale (Steger, Ill./Marian Catholic) was on fire in the circle for Dominican’s first game versus Marian (21-20), and would face only three extra batters in her first shutout victory of the season. Improving her record to 12-9 and allowing just two hits, the senior fanned her season-high 12 batters and walked none.  

The Stars’ (23-20) offense would record five hits in the contest, but each of their two runs were unearned as Marian committed four errors in the game. Corinne Wimmer (Elgin, Ill./Larkin) would plate Erica King (Lyons, Ill./St. Joseph) in the third inning for the Stars’ first run, while Sarah Budz (Orland Park, Ill./Providence Catholic) came across in the fifth after Melissa Summaria’s (Algonquin, Ill./Dundee Crown) blooper to shallow right field fell out of the Marian defender’s glove.

In Dominican’s second game against Lakeland (20-19), Emily Mahoney (Crystal Lake, Ill./South) followed Cicale’s lead in the circle and also recorded her season-high of 13 strikeouts, one better than her previous mark set on April 15 at Lakeland. She would also help her cause offensively, recording one of five doubles for the Stars, batting one run in, and scoring another.

Mahoney was one of eight Stars to record a hit in the game, as they totaled 12 hits, eight of which earned extra bases. Budz, Wimmer, Summaria, and King would join the doubles party, Budz also leading off the game with a solo jack over the left field fence. Tayler Miller (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) and Amy Paolini (Lemont, Ill.) would also come through for the Stars, as the rookie Miller legged out her first triple of her career and Paolini sent her first homer of the season over the right field fence to bring in three more runs for the Stars.

With their two wins today, sixth-seeded Dominican will now need three more tomorrow to claim their first NAC Tournament title, but standing in their way are the tournament’s top two seeds, No. 1 Benedictine University (31-9) and No. 2 Aurora University (26-14). The Stars will first face off against the loser of the No. 1 – No. 2 matchup in an 11 a.m. first pitch contest, and if they advance they will need to knock off the remaining opponent twice in the double-elimination tournament to claim the title.