FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Lawrence University baseball team jumped out to an early lead and rolled to a 7-3 nonconference victory over Knox College on Thursday.
The Vikings got another stellar pitching performance from sophomore Drew Doares. He went seven innings, allowed five hits, struck out eight and did not walk a batter en route to the victory. Marty Salazar pitched the first three innings for Knox (3-2) and took the loss.
Gabe Henriques went 2-for-3, scored two runs and drove in a pair of runs to pace the Vikings (6-3). Marc Linger went 2-for-4 for the Vikings, and Davis Ogilvie drove in a pair of runs.
The Vikings grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first. Henriques walked, and Aaron Benz followed with a single. The runners executed a double steal, and Ogilvie then grounded to third. Henriques scored on the ground ball, and Benz also came around to score on an errant throw to first.
Lawrence stretched the lead to 6-1 with four runs in the bottom of the second. Richie Foreman led off with a single, stole second and scored on Linger’s single to give Lawrence a 3-1 edge. Joel Birch and Davide Harris followed with walks to load the bases.
Henriques grounded into a fielder’s choice at second that allowed Linger to score, but an error after the out also allowed Birch to score for a 5-1 lead. After another ground out, Ogilvie singled and Henriques scored for a 6-1 advantage.
Knox scored twice in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-3, but the Vikings added another run on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom half of the inning. Lawrence closed out the win by allowing Knox only two more hits, both singles, in the final four innings.
Lawrence ended with the most wins on its spring break trip since the Vikings went 6-6 back in 2006. This was the first time the Vikings had posted a winning mark on their spring break trip since the team went 4-0 back in 1989.