The Lawrence University baseball team got solid pitching and used an opportunistic offense to record a nonconference doubleheader sweep from the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Wednesday at Whiting Field.
Lawrence (6-12) won the opener 8-5 and took the nightcap 6-4.
In the opener, Gabe Henriques went 3-for-3 and Tanner DeBettencourt drove in three runs for the Vikings. Joel Birch went 2-for-4, and Birch and Eric Bohling drove in two runs apiece.
Freshman pitcher Kelton Jenkins made the start and picked up his first career victory. Jenkins pitched six innings, allowed six hits, struck out two and walked four. Freshman Atley Gay worked out of a jam in the seventh to record his first career save.
Lawrence jumped on MSOE (3-21) by scoring five times in the bottom of the first. Lawrence had four hits in the inning but took advantage of two big MSOE errors. Birch had a run-scoring single to start the scoring, but the big blow was DeBettencourt’s three-run bases-clearing double.
Lawrence led 6-1 when Michael Ricciardi hit a grand slam in the fifth to slice the lead to 6-5.
The Vikings came right back and scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. MSOE had another error to start that inning, and the Vikings made the Raiders pay again. Bohling had a run-scoring groundout, and Birch had another run-scoring single to push the lead to 8-5. Both of the runs in that inning were unearned.
Gay hit a batter and gave up a single in the seventh, but he got Ricciardi to hit into a fielder’s choice and then induced Adam Vlaj to fly out to end the game.
In the nightcap, Henriques went 2-for-2, scored three runs and drove in a pair to pace the Lawrence offense. Davide Harris went 2-for-4 and scored a pair of run for the Vikings. Bohling had one hit in the nightcap and drove in three runs.
Freshman pitcher Andrew Doares made the start and picked up his first career win. Doares went 5 1/3 innings, allowed nine hits, struck out one and walked one. Alex Brewer got the final five outs for his second save of the season.
Lawrence jumped on the Raiders for a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Harris singled and Henriques walked to start the frame, and both runners moved up on a double steal. A throwing error on the play allowed Harris to score, and Henriques came in on Bohling’s sacrifice fly.
Lawrence made it 4-0 in the third, and it was Harris and Henriques who got the rally going again. Harris got a one-out single, and Henriques followed with a triple to make it 3-0. Henriques then scored on Bohling’s groundout for a 4-0 lead.
MSOE cut the lead in half with two runs in the top of the fifth, but the Vikings struck for two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Jake Gordon walked to start the inning, and he scored on Henriques’ double to push the lead to 5-2. Bohling followed with a double in the left field corner to score Henriques and put the Vikings up 6-4.
MSOE added two more runs in the sixth, but Brewer came on to strike out Walter Ziller and got James Heinritz to hit into a fielder’s choice to limit the damage. Brewer then worked a perfect seventh to complete the save.
Lawrence returns to action with four nonconference games at Finlandia University on Saturday and Sunday.