Elmhurst takes two from Vikings

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — It was a rough Sunday afternoon for the Lawrence University baseball team, which dropped a nonconference doubleheader to Elmhurst College at Lenz Field.

Elmhurst (3-0) won the opener 19-3 and took the nightcap 12-2.

Cullen Ellis made the start in the first game and took the loss for the Vikings (1-3), who committed multiple errors.

Lawrence got all three of its runs in the fifth inning when the Vikings loaded the bases with the help of Andrew Lauber’s double. Cole Erickson then smacked a bases-clearing triple for all three of Lawrence’s runs.

The defense also struggled in the second game for starter Kyle Duex, who took the loss despite allowing just two earned runs.

Anthony Ortiz, Erickson and Matthew Holliday all had two hits apiece for the Vikings in the nightcap.

Lawrence again scored its only runs in the fifth inning. Erickson had singled and come around to score to get Lawrence on the board, and Ortiz then came to plate. Ortiz’s fly ball dropped in, and he streaked around the bases for an inside-the-park homer, the second round-tripper of his career.

Lawrence is off until March 18 when the Vikings open an eight-game spring break stretch in Winter Haven, Fla.