APPLETON, Wis. — The Cornell College softball team got big hits from the bottom of the order on Saturday and used that to post a 6-2 victory over Lawrence University at the Midwest Conference Tournament at Whiting Field.
Lawrence (20-14) now faces an elimination game on Sunday at 10 a.m. against St. Norbert College. Cornell (22-14) moves into Sunday’s noon championship game against the winner of the Lawrence-St. Norbert contest. The winner of the MWC Tournament receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The bottom three hitters in the Cornell lineup went 7-for-9 with both Renata Rankin and Brianna Carney both going 3-for-3. Rankin scored three of Cornell’s six runs.
Amanda Engel went the distance to pick up the win for Cornell. She allowed four hits, struck out two and walked two. Shannon Murray took the loss in relief for Lawrence. Anna Wawiorka went 2-for-3 for the Vikings.
Lawrence got a run in the second when Wawiorka singled and later scored on an error and added another run in the third when Cathy Kaye walked and scored on Shannon Murray’s double.
Cornell tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third when the Rams got consecutive singles from Rankin, Carney and Rachel Aubrey. Rankin scored on Aubrey’s single, and Carney later scored on Brittani Yost’s sacrfice fly.
The Rams added two more runs in the fourth on a solo homer from Kari Martin and Carney’s run-scoring double to go up 4-2.
Cornell sealed the win with two more runs in the sixth, and Rankin and Carney got that rally started with back-to-back singles. Kelsey Boss then belted a two-run, two-out double to put Cornell ahead 6-2.
In an earlier game Saturday, St. Norbert defeated Lake Forest College 8-5 to eliminate the Foresters.