DE PERE, Wis. — The St. Norbert College softball team rallied for wins in both games to record a Midwest Conference doubleheader sweep of Lawrence University on Wednesday at Mel Nicks Field.
The Green Knights scored eight times in the fifth and went on to a 9-3 victory in the opener, and St. Norbert scored five times in the sixth and posted a 5-2 win in the nightcap.
In the opener, St. Norbert (9-11, 4-0 MWC) picked up 16 hits against Lawrence starter Shannon Murray. Steph Brunette led St. Norbert by going 3-for-4 and scoring three runs.
Murray went 2-for-3 for Lawrence (5-13, 0-2), which was limited to five hits against Shannen Schmidt.
Lawrence built a 3-1 lead with single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Brielle Bartes had a run-scoring single in the second and picked up a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The Vikings got the run in the fifth on Murray’s RBI double.
The Green Knights finally broke through in the fifth and scored eight times on eight hits in the inning. Abby Gildernick hit a three-run homer in the inning, and Morgan Buboltz added a two-run shot in the frame.
Lawrence built a 2-0 lead in the nightcap by scoring single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Cathy Kaye picked up a run-scoring double in the fifth, and Murray blasted a solo homer to put the Vikings up 2-0 in the sixth.
St. Norbert then struck for five runs in the bottom of the sixth with four hits and the Green Knights took advantage of two Lawrence errors. The big hit in the inning was Brunette’s two-run single, and Brunette finished 3-for-3 in the game.
Murray went the distance in the nightcap and took the loss. She also went 3-for-3 at the plate to pace the Lawrence offense. Morgan Rusch went the distance and got the win for St. Norbert.