Lakeland scored runs in the 7th and 8th to slip past North Park, 5-4, in a Monday contest at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Florida.

In the top of the first, the Muskies reached Viking starter Jason Meger for a pair of runs on three hits. North Park came back in their half of the first with three runs to take their only lead of the afternoon. Zak Worsley led off with a single, stole second, and moved up on a wild pitch. Eric Sousanes walked, then Tommy Endres singled in Worsley and Sousanes moved to third. A perfect double steal tied to score and a passed ball put Endres at third. Dan Sabin hit a sacrifice fly to center to stake Meger to a 3-2 lead.

After the first, both pitchers controlled the contest. The Muskies' Cory Manders pitched around base runners the next three innings, picking one off and stranding three in the third and two in the fourth. In the meantime, Lakeland tied the game in the fourth on a walk, a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch, and a groundout. The Muskies took the lead in the seventh on a single, a sacrifice, and another base hit. They added an insurance run in the eighth on a leadoff single and a sacrifice with the runner reaching on the lone Viking error of the game. Reliever Matt Peterson came in and induced a double-play grounder which resulted in a run for a 5-3 lead.

North Park pulled to within a run after scoring one in the bottom of the eighth. Sabin singled, pinch runner Nathan Clarke swiped second, moved to third on a single by Mike Coduto, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Woolbright. But that would be all the offense the Vikings could muster for the remainder of the contest.

The Vikings drop to 3-5 and have two days off (for JV contests) before returning to action on Thursday against Haverford College.