WAUKESHA, Wis. — Lawrence University softball coach Kim Tatro picked up career win No. 300 on Sunday as the Vikings split a Midwest Conference doubleheader with Carroll University.
Carroll took the opener 2-1, and the Vikings won the nightcap 8-5.
The victory in the second game gave Tatro her 300th win and improved her record to 300-281-1 over 19 seasons at Lawrence. Tatro has more victories (391 combined with softball and volleyball) than any coach in Lawrence history.
Lawrence (9-22, 2-6 MWC) trailed 2-0 in the nightcap before scoring three runs in the top of the third. Brielle Bartes led off the inning with her first homer of the season, and the Vikings then loaded the bases. Lawrence added two more runs on a ground out and Cory Paquette’s single to go up 3-2.
The Vikings added two more runs in the fourth without a hit as the Pioneers committed and error and threw a pair of wild pitches. Carroll (19-12, 5-3) cut the lead to 5-3 with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but Lawrence rallied again in the top of the fifth.
Coley LaChance and Shannon Murray started the inning with singles and moved to second and third on an error. Cathy Kaye lifted a sacrifice fly to score LaChance, and Kara Vance added a run-scoring single to give the Vikings a 7-3.
Lawrence added a run in the sixth on Alex Chiodo’s RBI single, but Carroll cut the lead to 8-5 with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Murray then a perfect seventh to seal the win.
Emily Perish, Chiodo, Paquette and Vance all had two hits to pace the Vikings in the nightcap. Murray went the distance to pick up the win.
In the opener, Carroll scored twice in the second, and all Lawrence could muster was a single run in the fifth.
Lawrence loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Carroll pitcher Taylor Steinhilber got Alissa Geipel to ground out to end the game. Steinhilber went the distance to pick up the win, and Murray took the loss.