CHICAGO, Ill. — Amanda Jaskolski provided the offense and Kara Vance turned in a stellar pitching performance to lead the Lawrence University softball team to a nonconference doubleheader split with the University of Chicago on Friday.
Lawrence won the nightcap 6-2, and the Maroons took the opener 5-4 at Stagg Field.
In the second game, Jaskolski went 3-for-3 with a home run, scored a pair of runs and was on base four times. Vance allowed six hits and just one earned run in going the distance.
Lawrence (9-5) trailed 1-0 before striking for three runs in the third. The Vikings loaded the bases on an infield single and a pair of walks, and a fielder’s choice ground ball brought home Tierney Duffy to tie the game at 1-1. A two-out throwing error on Sam Belletini’s ground ball allowed two more runs to score and the Vikings led 3-1.
Jaskolski then belted a lead-off homer in the fifth to push Lawrence’s lead to 4-1. Taylor Dodson followed with a double, and pinch-runner Rheya Upadhyaya later scored on Marisa Thackston’s single for a 5-1 lead.
Anna Wawiorka then led off the sixth with another solo homer for the Vikings to give Lawrence a 6-1 lead. The Maroons closed to 6-2 with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but Vance shut them down the rest of the way to seal the win.
In the opener, Chicago (9-7) built a 5-0 lead and then had to hang on for the win.
The Vikings scored three times in the top of the fifth with Savanna Marsicek smacking a two-run double and Dodson adding a run-scoring single in the inning.
Lawrence trimmed the margin to 5-4 in the sixth when Kori Looker walked to start the inning and scored on Wawiorka’s single.
Lawrence got the tying run aboard in the seventh when Jaskolski drew a lead-off walk, but the Vikings left her stranded at second.
Duffy went 2-for-3 and scored a run, and Marsicek drove in a pair to pace Lawrence’s offense in the opener. Liz Barthels allowed nine hits and only two earned runs and took the loss for the Vikings.