MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team pounded out 24 hits and scored 22 runs en route to a nonconference doubleheader sweep of Alverno College on Monday.
Lawrence won the opener 11-6 and took the nightcap 11-8 at Alverno Field.
In the first game, Cathy Kaye paced Lawrence’s 11-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with a home run, two runs batted in and two runs scored. Carli Gurholt went 3-for-3 with a homer, drove in three runs and scored a pair of runs. Emily Perish was 3-for-4 and drove in three runs.
Lawrence (5-9) scored three times in the first courtesy of Gurholt’s three-run homer. The Vikings made it 5-0 in the third on Perish’s two-run single.
The Inferno (4-12) cut it to 5-4 in the bottom of the third, but Kaye belted a solo homer to make it 6-4 in the top of the fourth. Alverno tied it at 6-6 with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Lawrence took the lead for good by scoring twice in the top of the sixth. The Vikings scored after a walk and throwing error, and Kaye followed with a run-scoring double to give Lawrence a 8-6 lead.
Lawrence put the game away with three runs in the seventh. Perish hit a bullet down the right field line to score the first run, and Brielle Bartes capped the rally with a two-run single up the middle.
Perish pitched the first five innings to pick up the win. Jamie Villalobos went six innings and took the loss.
In the nightcap, Shannon Murray went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs for the Vikings. She also went the distance on the mound to pick up the win.
Kaye went 2-for-4, hit another homer, and drove in three runs in the second game. Bartes and Cory Paquette both had two hits apiece for the Vikings.
Lawrence raced out to a big lead before Alverno rallied in the nightcap.
Kaye led off the game with homer as part of a three-run first for the Vikings. Lawrence added another run in the second and picked up two more in the third to lead 6-1.
The Vikings then scored five times in the fifth on six hits and three Alverno errors. Kaye had a run-scoring double in the inning, and Perish picked up a RBI single to help Lawrence forge an 11-1 lead.
Alverno countered by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth to cut it to 11-4. Chelsea Gulbronson then hit a three-run homer as part of a four-run sixth inning to trim the lead to 11-8.
Murray then set the Inferno down in order in the seventh to seal the win. Murray allowed 13 hits, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. Emily Snell pitched the first five innings and took the loss.