Lawrence rolls past Western New England

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Lawrence University softball team parlayed two big innings into a 9-1 nonconference win over Western New England University on Saturday.

Lawrence (2-1) scored four times in the third inning and five times in the fourth to pull away from Western New England.

Shannon Murray went the distance for Lawrence. She allowed seven hits, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. Murray also drove in a pair of runs with a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly.

The Golden Bears scored once in the third, but the Vikings rallied for four runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Cory Paquette singled, Alissa Geipel walked and Alex Chiodo singled to load the bases for the Vikings. After a strikeout, Murray walked for drive in a run. Kara Vance followed with a sacrifice fly to score Geipel and give Lawrence a 2-1 lead. Western New England then misplayed a fly ball to allow two more runs to score and give Lawrence a 4-1 lead.

Emily Perish started Lawrence’s five-run rally in the fourth with a walk. After a popup, Alissa Geipel doubled and Alex Chiodo walked to load the bases. Cathy Kaye then blasted a bases-clearing triple to give Lawrence a 7-1 lead. Kaye finished 2-for-4 with three runs batted in.

After Murray’s sacrifice fly scored Kaye, a Vance single and an error put two runners aboard. Mary Diduch followed with a two-run double to give Lawrence a 9-1 edge.