APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team rode great pitching in the opener to a Midwest Conference doubleheader split with Carroll University on Thursday at Whiting Field.
Lawrence won the opener 4-1 and dropped the nightcap 5-4 to the Pioneers.
In the first game, Drew Doares tossed seven innings of three-hit relief to pick up the victory for Lawrence (6-22, 3-8 MWC). Doares allowed one run, struck out nine and walked two.
Jake Gordon went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored to pace the Lawrence offense, which scratched out four runs on just six hits.
Lawrence scored two runs on a strange play in the bottom of the first. With runners at first and second and two outs, Carroll pitcher Kevin Dineen uncorked a wild pitch. Gordon came home to score from third, but when Dineen caught the ball from catcher Kyle Sykes, both players turned their backs to the plate. Sam Kossow, who had advanced to third on the wild pitch, then sprinted home to score and make it 2-0.
The Vikings added two more runs in the sixth after Gordon singled and Kossow doubled. Gordon scored on a balk, and Joel Birch’s sacrifice fly scored Kossow to make it 4-0.
In the nightcap, the Vikings pounded out 15 hits but stranded 15 runners against five Carroll (11-18, 6-9) pitchers.
Kossow, Birch, Aaron Benz and Brandon Vamarasi all had two hits for Lawrence, and Vamarasi drove in a pair of runs in the first inning.
Lawrence led 4-2 after three innings, but the Pioneers cut the lead to 4-3 with a run in the fourth. Carroll took the lead with a pair of runs in the sixth. Dylan Grove singled to score Ethan Urban, and an errant throw to the plate allowed Clayton Schmitt to score for a 5-4 Carroll lead.
Schmitt went 4-for-5 in the nightcap, and Grove drove in three runs.
The Vikings threatened in each of the final four innings, leaving six runners aboard, but could not score.
Jake Sweet threw three innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win, and Matt Risch worked around a lead-off single in the ninth for the save. Atley Gay worked 6.1 innings and took the loss for Lawrence.