Birch slams Carroll in 24-11 Lawrence victory

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team blasted four home runs, including a grand slam, and rolled to a 24-11 Midwest Conference victory over Carroll University at Frame Park on Wednesday.

Lawrence set or tied five school records, including tying the marks for runs scored and runs batted in.

Joel Birch went 4-for-6 with a grand slam, drove in seven runs and scored four runs for Lawrence (4-12, 2-3 MWC), which pounded out a school-record 25 hits. The Vikings had five players with at least four hits apiece and tied the school record with 23 RBIs.

Jake Gordon was 5-for-7 with four runs scored and a pair of RBIs. The five hits ties the school record for hits in a game. Freshman Brandon Vamarasi was 4-for-5 and drove in six runs for the Vikings.

Sam Kossow went 4-for-4 and scored a school-record six runs, and Marc Linger went 4-for-6 with three RBIs. Davis Ogilive hit a three-run homer for the Vikings, and Luke Zablocki had a solo shot, his team-best third homer of the season.

Kelton Jenkins pitched five innings of relief to pick up the win.

Lawrence led 4-0 after the top of the first as Gordon hit a two-run homer and Zablocki blasted a solo homer. Carroll (6-10, 3-2) then scored the next six runs over four innings to grab a 6-4 lead.

The Vikings exploded for seven runs in the fifth to take an 11-6 lead. The big blow in the inning was Ogilvie’s three-run homer.

Lawrence added two more runs in the sixth and picked up four in the seventh, including a pair on a Birch double, to lead 15-6. Carroll countered with four in the bottom of the seventh, but Lawrence sealed the win in the final two innings.

Vamarasi drove in a pair in a three-run eighth, and Birch blasted the grand slam in the ninth to finish the scoring for Lawrence.

Box score

Game two of the doubleheader was postponed due to inclement weather.