FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Lawrence University baseball team rallied for five runs in the eighth inning and posted an 11-9 nonconference victory over Olivet College on Monday.
The Vikings pounded out 16 hits and a pair of pitchers picked up collegiate firsts for Lawrence. Freshman Phil Clark got his first win, and senior Eric Bohling notched his first career save.
Freshman Joel Birch went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two runs batted in to pace the Lawrence attack. Sam Kossow went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs for Lawrence. Gabe Henriques went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs, and Darvis PridGeon also went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Jake Gordon also picked up a pair of hits for the Vikings.
After Olivet scored a run in the top of the eighth, Lawrence (2-4) trailed 9-6 heading to the bottom half of the inning. PridGeon led off the inning with a single and stole second. After a fielder’s choice left everyone safe, Henriques walked to load the bases. Bohling was then hit by a pitch to drive in PridGeon and cut the lead to 9-7.
A Kossow sacrifice fly then scored Davide Harris to trim the lead to 9-8. After Phil Wisniewski walked to load the bases, a misplayed ground ball scored Henriques to tie the game at 9-9. Birch then smacked a ground-rule double to score two more runs and give Lawrence an 11-9 lead.
Bohling came in to pitch the ninth and worked around a single to record the save. Clark pitched 1.2 innings of relief, allowing one hit and one run, to earn the win.
Lawrence built an early 4-0 lead thanks to a three-run second inning. The Vikings started the inning with three singles in a row, the last one by PridGeon to drive in a run and give Lawrence a 2-0 lead. Henriques singled two hitters later to drive in two more and put the Vikings up 4-0.
Olivet exploded for six runs in the fourth and added single runs in the fifth and sixth to take an 8-4 lead. Lawrence cut that margin in half with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Birch led off with a double, and Gordon followed with a bunt single. A squeeze bunt by PridGeon scored Birch, and Harris followed with a single to score Gordon and cut the lead to 8-6.