APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth and went on to a 7-6 victory over Cornell College in an opening game at the Midwest Conference Tournament at Whiting Field.
The Vikings (27-10) trailed 5-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth, but Lawrence used two hits, three walks and a hit batsman to grab the lead.
Amanda Jaskolski went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and a double and four runs batted in to pace Lawrence. Kara Vance tossed six innings for the Vikings to earn the win, and Liz Barthels got the final three outs for the save.
Kari Martin went 4-for-4 to pace the Rams (30-7).
Lawrence started the sixth with Taylor Dodson’s single and then loaded the bases on consecutive walks. Tierney Duffy then drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the lead to 5-3. Anna Wawiorka was then hit by a pitch to force in another run to cut the lead to 5-4.
After a popup, Jaskoski laced a three-run double to center field, and the Vikings grabbed a 7-5 lead.
After Vance allowed a pair of hits to start the seventh, Barthels came on in relief with runners at second and third and no outs. A popup forced the runners to hold, but Renata Rankin’s ground out scored pinch-runner Tess Wilner to trim the lead to 7-6. Barthels then got Jessie Applehans to popup to end the game.
Cornell led 1-0 in the first when Jaskolski homered in the bottom half of the inning to tie it. The Rams then scored three times in the second, but the Vikings trimmed the lead to 4-2 on Sam Belletini’s run-scoring double in the third. The Rams picked up another run in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead before Lawrence rallied in the sixth.