WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team went into Saturday’s final Midwest Conference doubleheader of the season knowing it was desperately short on pitching.
Enter Kyle Duex.
The sophomore threw the first 13 innings of the day, and Lawrence rallied for a split with the Pioneers. Carroll (17-19, 6-10 MWC) won the opener 3-2, and the Vikings took the nightcap 11-8 at Frame Park.
Duex went the distance in the first game and allowed just one earned run on seven hits but lost the pitcher’s duel to Carroll’s Carl Formento.
Lawrence got a run in the third on Dan Rothbauer’s run-scoring double, added a run on Cole Erickson’s RBI double in the eighth but couldn’t push across the tying run in the ninth.
Rothbauer finished 3-for-4, and Nolan Spencer was 3-for-5 for the Vikings (11-25, 5-11). Erickson and Travis Weber with both 2-for-4 with a double, and Dante Reese collected a pair of hits.
Duex started the second game and allowed seven hits and four runs over five innings. He exited with the Vikings ahead 6-4, but Carroll rallied for two runs in the eighth to take an 8-7 lead.
Weber led off the ninth with a solo homer to tie it at 8-8. Brandon Klar drew a walk and scored on Zach Rabideau’s single for a 9-8 edge. After Carl Olsen singled, Erickson tripled to score two and put Lawrence up 11-8.
Rabideau, who entered in relief in the sixth, worked around a hit batsman in the ninth to secure the win. Rabideau also went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.
Olsen was 3-for-3 with a double and scored four runs, and Spencer went 3-for-6. Both Erickson and Weber finished 2-for-4.