Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Ashley Rea (Lockport, Ill.) rapped out eight hits on Sunday afternoon, none bigger than her final one of the day, a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Dominican University softball team split a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) twinbill with the Lakeland College Muskies.

The split moves the Stars to 9-7 on the season with a doubleheader against the Marian University Sabres on tap for Monday afternoon at The Ballpark in Rosemont. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with live stats available on the Stars' athletics website at www.DUstars.com.

Game One – Lakeland College 8, Dominican 2

The Muskies chased Dominican University's Haley Locher (Lisle, Ill.) from the game in the top of the fifth with no outs. Locher, the Stars' starter in the circle, was charged with five runs, four earned, on seven hits and three walks. The sophomore hurler struck out two but falls to 5-4 on the season.

Lakeland got on the board in the top of the first, pushing across Sami Jo Williams on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ashley Hough.

The Stars evened the score in their half of the first. Allie Evans (Greenwood, Ind.) lined a single to left field to plate Rea.

Lakeland pulled back out in front in the top of the third, pushing across two runs in the frame on three singles and a walk. Hough picked up her second RBI of the game, singling up the middle to score Jocelyn Yeager.

The Muskies tacked on two more in the top of the fifth, capitalizing on a Dominican error and a wild pitch with both runs being charged to Locher before Sarah Slouber (Willow Springs, Ill.) took over in the circle with the Stars trailing 5-1.

Rea came around to score, this time aboard for a triple by fellow freshman Dominique Schneider (Lockport, Ill.). Schneider was then stranded at third as the Stars' bats went quiet the rest of the game with Lakeland's Jessica Suarez retiring the final eight hitters she faced to pick up the win.

Game Two – Dominican 12, Lakeland 11 (8 Inn.)

The Muskies capitalized on a Stars' miscue in the field in the top of the first, opening a 2-0 lead after the top of the first just as they did in game one. However, this time the Stars answered with four runs in the bottom of the first with Kaitlin Barajas (Dyer, Ind.) roping a two-run double to left-center before Evans found the gap in right-center for a triple, scoring Barajas.
Dominican added two runs in the second with Barajas smacking her second two run double of the game, driving a ball to deep centerfield.

Lakeland stormed back in the third, pushing across eight runs on six hits and chasing Dominican's Siena Gyure (Crown Point, Ind.) from the circle while taking a 10-6 lead. Lakeland added another run in the top of the fourth but the Muskies managed just two walks the rest of the day.

The Stars cut the Muskies' lead to 11-9 in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs on a base-clearing triple by Evans, her second triple of the game.

The Stars then evened the score in the bottom of the fifth. Sara Hausl (St. Charles, Ill.) lined an RBI triple down the right field line and then scored when Schneider bounded out to second for the second out of the inning.

The Stars stranded two runners in the sixth and left Rea out at second in the seventh but then loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth. After back-to-back lineouts, Rea bounced a ball over third base to score Evans who led off the frame with a single.

Schneider picked up the win, tossing six innings in relief. The freshman was charged with three runs, two earned on four hits and three walks while striking out one. The win was the first collegiate victory for Schneider, improving her record in the circle to 1-1.