APPLETON, Wis. — Cathy Kaye hit a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the Lawrence University softball team to a 5-4 win over St. Norbert College in an elimination game on Sunday at the Midwest Conference Tournament.
The win puts Lawrence (21-14) into the MWC championship game against Cornell College at Whiting Field.
The Vikings trailed 4-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, but lead-off hitter Alissa Geipel reached on error to start the rally. Cory Paquette then laced a double to right field, and the Vikings had runners at second and third with no outs. Kaye then smacked the first pitch from Morgan Rusch over the center field fence to win it for Lawrence.
Shannon Murray went the distance to pick up the win for Lawrence. She allowed only five hits, struck out two and did not walk a batter. Rusch took the loss, allowed seven hits, and walked one.
Cory Paquette went 2-for-3 for the Vikings, and Kaye scored two runs to go with her three runs batted in.
The Vikings went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first when Savanna Marsicek reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on Anna Wawiorka’s single. St. Norbert tied it with a run in the fourth and then added two more in the fifth.
The Vikings cut the lead to 3-2 with an unearned run. After Kaye reached on an error, she moved to second when Tierney Duffy walked. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, and Kaye then scored on Murray’s single to cut the lead to 3-2.
St. Norbert added an insurance run in the top of the seventh before Kaye’s dramatic home run won it in the bottom half of the inning.