The Lawrence University softball team cruised to a win in the opener on Thursday, but Finlandia University took the nightcap to split a nonconference doubleheader at Whiting Field.
Lawrence (8-19) won the opener 9-1 in six innings, and Finlandia (24-8) took the second game 9-4.
In the opener, Shannon Murray went the distance to pick up the win. She allowed only four hits and one unearned run. Murray struck out four and walked one.
Cathy Kaye powered the Lawrence offense by going 3-for-3. Murray and Alissa Geipel both went 2-for-3 and each drove in a pair of runs.
Lawrence took a 3-1 lead with three runs in the second. Geipel drove in Kara Vance with a run-scoring single to tie the game at 1-1, and Kaye then scored on a passed ball. Brittany Garland then uncorked a wild pitch to score Geipel and give Lawrence a two-run edge.
Lawrence added a run in the fourth on Geipel’s RBI single, and the Vikings pulled away with three runs in the fifth. The Vikings loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a hit batsman, and Murray followed with a two-run single to put Lawrence up 6-1. Kaye later singled up the middle to score Murray to make it 7-1.
Lawrence ended the game on the mercy rule with two runs in the sixth. Lawrence had two runners aboard when Coley LaChance dumped a two-run double down the right field line to end the game.
Garland allowed 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings and took the loss.
In the nightcap, Finlandia collected 12 hits and took advantage of three Lawrence errors to pull away. Garland went the distance to get the win. Garland also went 2-for-4 with a solo homer, and she scored two runs and drove in a pair.
Garland led off the game with a homer, and Finlandia manufactured a run in the second to go up 2-0. The Lions then scored four times in the third with only one hit, but they took advantage of two errors and a wild pitch to go up 6-1.
Finlandia added three runs in the fourth with Garland, Sam Walters and Ashley Benavidez all picking up run-scoring singles to give the Lions a 9-1 lead. Lawrence trimmed the lead to 9-2 with Kaye’s RBI single in the fourth, and the Vikings added two more runs in the seventh for the final margin.
Kaye went 2-for-3 and drove in two runs for the Vikings in the nightcap. Kara Vance made the start and took the loss after pitching only 2 1/3 innings.
Lawrence plays its final home doubleheader on Saturday when it hosts Elmhurst College.