FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Lawrence University baseball team rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the nightcap on Wednesday to pick up a nonconference doubleheader split with Bethany (W.V.) College.
Lawrence (5-3) took the nightcap 2-1 in nine innings, and the Bison (2-6) won the opener 11-10.
Lawrence starter Atley Gay tossed eight shutout innings before Bethany got to reliever Dan Taylor in the ninth. A single and a two-out double gave the Bison a 1-0 lead.
Bethany brought in closer Brad Kubis but the Vikings got lead-off hitter Gabe Warshaw aboard on an error. After a sacrifice bunt, Gabe Henriques singled to score Warshaw and tie the game at 1-1.
Aaron Benz followed with a single to put runners at the corners, and Kubis then intentionally walked Tanner DeBettencourt to load the bases. Sam Kossow then singled past the drawn-in infield to score Henriques and win it for Lawrence.
Kossow finished 2-for-3, and Benz went 2-for-4. Davide Harris paced the Lawrence offense by going 3-for-3.
Bethany took a 6-0 lead in the first inning of the opener against Lawrence starter Brian King, who went 2.2 innings.
Lawrence grabbed the lead back with eight runs in the top of the second. The big blow for the Vikings was Davis Ogilvie’s grand slam, which also was his first collegiate home run. Lawrence pushed the lead to 10-6 in the top of the third when Benz hit his first collegiate homer, a two-run blast.
Bethany cut the lead to 10-9 with three runs in the bottom half of the third, and the Bison tied it at 10-10 with a run in the fifth.
The Bison won it in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Miles Link. An error, a single and an infield single loaded the bases with one out, and Chuck Ziants’ fly ball over the drawn-in outfield scored the winning run.
Phil Wisniewski paced the Lawrence offense by going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, and Harris went 2-for-5 and drove in a run.
Lawrence wraps up its trip to Florida with a single game against Knox College on Thursday.