APPLETON, Wis. — Craig Batchelor earned his first career victory as the Lawrence University baseball team rallied for a 6-4 Midwest Conference win over St. Norbert College on Sunday at Whiting Field.
Game two of the doubleheader was postponed by rain.
Batchelor tossed four innings of one-hit relief to pick up the victory. He struck out three and walked two.
Carl Olsen went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs for the Vikings (8-15, 2-5 MWC). Nolan Spencer and Travis Weber also had a pair of hits, and Zach Rabideau hit a solo homer for Lawrence.
Lawrence grabbed a 2-1 lead by scoring twice in the third inning. Rabideau led off the inning with homer, and Olsen followed with a single. He moved to third following a bunt single and an error and scored Brandon Klar’s sacrifice fly.
The Green Knights (11-10, 7-4) took the lead back with two runs in the fifth, but the Vikings seized control with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Klar started the inning with a single and moved to second on a failed pick-off. Matt Holliday followed with a single to score Klar and the game was tied at 3-3. A walk chased starter Jason Malkowski, and Matt Zacharias came on in relief.
After a sacrifice bunt, the Green Knights walked Dan Rothbauer intentionally to load the bases. Zacharias then walked Anthony Ortiz on four pitches to score Holliday, and the Vikings led 4-3. After a fielder’s choice forced out a runner at home, Olsen delivered a single to right to score two, and the Vikings led 6-3.
Batchelor did the rest but had to work out of a big jam in the ninth. The Green Knights had the bases loaded with no outs when Batchelor got Adam Enwiya to hit into a double play. A run scored on the play to trim the lead to 6-4, but Batchelor struck out Malkowski looking to end the game.
Malkowski allowed five runs on six hits and took his first loss of the season. Lawrence starter Chris Shaw worked out of two big jams in the first five innings as he stranded nine St. Norbert runners. The Green Knights left 12 on base during the game.