Ripon takes pair from Vikings; Gordon ties career hits record

APPLETON, Wis. — The Ripon College baseball team held off Lawrence University in the opener on Sunday and then pulled away late to take game two in a Midwest Conference doubleheader at Whiting Field.

Ripon won the first game 5-4 and took the nightcap 14-3.

In the opener, Ripon (15-12, 10-2 MWC) built a 4-0 lead in the top of the third, but Lawrence rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Anthony Ortiz singled and Brandon Klar was hit by a pitch and both came home on Matthew Holliday’s two-run single.

Holliday went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs for Lawrence (10-21, 2-14).

Ripon got a run back in the top of the sixth, but the Vikings battled back in the bottom of the eighth. Klar led off with a double and Jake Gordon followed with another double to score Klar and trim the lead to 5-3. Gordon later scored on Holliday’s ground out to cut the lead to 5-4.

Jeff Schuurmans got the final out of the eighth and then worked around a single in the ninth to pick up the save.

In the nightcap, Ripon scored nine runs in the final two innings to break the game open.

Lawrence led 1-0 after Holliday’s RBI double in the first, but Ripon struck for three runs in the third to take the lead.

The Red Hawks made it 4-1 in the top of the sixth, but Lawrence rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Tim Kinsella singled to start the rally, and Davis Ogilvie then reached on an error. Travis Weber singled to score Kinsella, and the Vikings later executed a double steal to score Ogilvie and trim the lead to 5-3.

Michael Polcyn hit a solo homer to give Ripon a 6-3 lead in the seventh. The Red Hawks then added three runs in the eighth, the big blow coming on Nick Uhen’s two-run homer. Uhen finished 4-for-5 with five runs batted in.

Ripon then scored six times in the ninth as Polcyn homered again, and Nick Kita and Uhen both had two-run doubles.

Holliday went 2-for-4 in the nightcap for Ripon. Gordon had a single in the fifth for the 154th hit of his career, which ties the school’s career record held by Andrew Wong.

Game one box score

Game two box score