Vikings pick up doubleheader split at Monmouth

MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Lawrence University softball team picked up a Midwest Conference doubleheader split Saturday at Monmouth College to open league play.

Lawrence took the opener 7-3, and Monmouth won the nightcap 12-6.

In the opener, rookie Maddie MacLean went the distance and limited the Scots to three runs on 11 hits to earn the win for Lawrence (8-7-1, 1-1 MWC).

Kori Looker went 2-for-3 and drove in a pair of runs, Rachel Urich went 2-for-4 and Taylor Dodson had two RBIs for the Vikings.

Monmouth’s Liz Hippen went the distance and allowed eight hits, walked eight and struck out four.

Lawrence jumped on top in third when the Vikings loaded the bases and Dodson drew a walk. Looker followed with a two-run double to put the Vikings up 3-0.

The Vikings added two more runs in the fourth with the help of two singles and an error to push the lead to 5-0. Monmouth cut the margin to 5-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Lawrence pushed the lead to 7-2 in the sixth on MacLean’s run-scoring single and Dodson’s RBI ground out.

In the second game, Monmouth (12-8, 6-2) broke a 1-1 tie with six runs in the fourth inning. The big blow in the frame was pitcher Kaylee Kurtz’s three-run homer.

Kurtz, who went 3-for-4 at the plate, allowed four runs over 4.2 innings to pick up the win.

Meg Krautsch went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs for the Vikings. Lawrence’s Katie Schumacher went 3-for-4 with a solo homer and drove in a pair of runs, and Tierney Duffy collected a pair of hits.

Lawrence scored three times in the fifth to trim the margin to 7-4 as Krautsch and Schumacher both had run-scoring singles. Monmouth added two runs in the bottom half of the inning to go back up 9-4.

Krautsch had a two-run single in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 9-6, but Monmouth sealed the win with three runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Game one box score

Game two box score