Freshman Sydney Kuderna (Naperville, Ill.) tossed a complete game in her first collegiate post-season outing, pitching the Stars to a 2-1 win in extra innings over the Lakeland College Muskies in the opening round of the 2016 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Softball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Alverno Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
 
The Muskies managed just one unearned run as the Stars' rookie left-hander worked around ten hits and four walks while striking out two.  With the win, Kuderna improves to 14-2 in the circle in 24 appearances.
 
The Stars got on the board in the bottom of the second when Gabby Curran (Elmhurst, Ill.) looped a flare that found the grass in left field to score Gabi Alfaro (Aurora, Ill.) who lined a one-out single to right earlier in the inning.
 
Lakeland got that run right back in the top of the third.  Kuderna got the first two outs of the inning on just two pitches before a Dominican error extended the inning.  With a runner at second, Angela Tribuzio singled in front of Curran in right to plate the unearned run.
 
Kuderna worked out of trouble in both the fifth and sixth innings to keep the game tied.  In the fifth, the Muskies got back-to-back one out singles by Jocelyn Yeager and Rosa Gonzalez before Kuderna got Tribuzio and Mikayla Hilton, Lakeland's fourth and fifth hitters in the lineup, to fly out to end the threat.
 
In the sixth, Lakeland loaded the bases before Kuderna got Yeager to roll into a fielder's choice, keeping the game tied.  In total, Kuderna stranded 13 Lakeland baserunners.
 
Offensively, Dominican managed just three baserunners from the third through the seventh innings, forcing the game to extra innings.  After Kuderna worked a one-two-three top of the eighth, Marissa Burns (Shorewood, Ill.) and Ali Woitovich (Downers Grove, Ill.) collected back-to-back one-out singles for the Stars before Lakeland's Savannah Stenlund got Alyssa Domico (Naperville, Ill.) to flyout in foul ground in left and Catherine Conte (Elmwood Park, Ill.) popped out to end the threat.
 
Kuderna worked around a one-out single in the top of the ninth sending the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied at 1-1. 
 
Alfaro led off the inning with a single to right, the third hit of the game for the freshman.  After a sacrifice bunt and a fly out, Curran kept the inning alive when she singled through the left side of the infield and took second on the throw back into the infield to put runners at second and third for Sara Hausl (St. Charles, Ill.).  Hausl delivered the game-winning hit when she singled up the middle to push across Alfaro for the winning run.
 
Alfaro's three singles led the Stars offensively while Curran, Burns and Ali Woitovich collected two hits apiece.

Dominican will face the top-seeded Aurora University Spartans in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination tournament at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.