GRINNELL, Iowa — The Grinnell College men’s tennis team rolled to a 9-0 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday. The Vikings dropped to 3-11 on the season.
Author: Joseph Vanden Acker
Inside LU Athletics: Versatile Vikings look for winning combination
You don’t want to bet on what the lineup for the Lawrence University softball team is going to be from day to day because the odds of picking the right one are slightly better than winning the Powerball.
The Vikings have used 10 different lineups in their 14 games this season, a product of the versatility of the players and a search for a winning combination.
“If you sit and study the box scores, the lineups have changed quite a bit. We knew that was going to be the case going into the season,” Lawrence coach Kim Tatro said.
“We’re trying to figure out which lineup makes us most effective. As crazy as this may sound, because of the youth of the team and the versatility of the players, it may fluctuate as we go through the season.”
No player has batted in the same spot in the lineup in every game this season. To point out just how much things vary from game to game, the Vikings have had seven different players hit in the seventh spot in the lineup.
“I don’t know that we’ll develop the continuity we’ve had in previous years where it was here’s the lineup and you know what it is,” Tatro said. “I hope we can settle on something and run with it.”
The 13 players have seen action this season with a minimum of five games played but only six players have started all 14 games.
While Lawrence knew it had young but talented players returning, the Vikings have also received solid contributions from a number of freshmen. Former Manitowoc Roncalli star Cory Paquette, Alissa Geipel, Alex Chiodo and Brielle Bartes have all had key moments in games thus far this season. That means Tatro has options, and the Vikings take on a different look each time they take the field.
“We have people waiting in the wings to get opportunities and they deserve the opportunity if the people in those positions aren’t performing,” Tatro said.
Senior shortstop Carli Gurholt, a former star at Amherst High School, has been powering the offense with a team-high .452 batting average to go along with seven doubles, one triple, one home run and 14 runs batted in.
“Carli is hitting the ball a ton right now and we need her to do that,” Tatro said.
Sophomore Shannon Murray is hitting .409 with a team-high 15 RBI and has a team-high three victories on the mound. Junior Emily Perish has been Murray’s counterpart on the mound and is hitting .351 with 11 RBI.
Sophomore and Sturgeon Bay native Cathy Kaye also broke through on Monday at Alverno College, where she went 6-for-9 in the doubleheader with two doubles, two homers and five RBI. She raised her average 77 points on Monday to .333.
“Emily and Cathy have stepped it up a little bit and we need that. We need balanced production,” Tatro said. “Everyone needs to pull their weight offensively.”
The Vikings are hitting .288 as a team heading into this weekend’s Midwest Conference Classic in Janesville. Lawrence will face the five South Division teams over the course of two days, and the Vikings need a solid showing after dropping a pair of games to Beloit College to open conference play.
“You can throw the records out the window,” Tatro said of playing in the MWC Classic. “I think everybody has played a different schedule so it’s about who you’re going to match up with. Will it be their No. 1 against your No. 3 or whatever.
“It’s a game of momentum. If you open up and hit well and you get on a roll, that can carry over. Conversely, the other thing can happen if you struggle in the opening game.”
Streak snapped
Freshman Luke Barthelmess had his 14-game hit streak snapped when he went 0-for-4 in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader with Monmouth College. Barthlemess is hitting .321 on the season with a homer and four RBI.
Sophomore Davide Harris has an eight-game hit streak currently after picking up three hits in the doubleheader against Monmouth.
Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.
Softball shuffles dates with St. Norbert, Marian
The Lawrence University softball doubleheader has changed game dates for its doubleheaders with St. Norbert College and Marian University. Lawrence will now host St. Norbert on Tuesday, April 26, at 3 p.m. at Whiting Field. The Vikings will travel to Marian to play the Sabres on Thursday, April 28 at 3 p.m. The Vikings are set to return to action on Saturday and Sunday when they face the five South Division teams at the Midwest Conference Classic in Janesville, Wis.
Monmouth hangs on to take pair from Vikings
ROCKFORD, Ill. — The Monmouth College baseball team held off Lawrence University in the nightcap of a nonconference doubleheader on Tuesday and posted a pair of wins over the Vikings at Road Ranger Stadium.
Monmouth won the opener 10-4 and took the nightcap 7-6.
In the opener, Monmouth (11-6) scored seven times in the second with the benefit of only one hit to take control. The Scots used five walks, a hit batsman and an error to put together the big inning.
Matt Van Dusen and Ross Donnan had two hits apiece for Monmouth in the opener, and Donnan drove in a pair of runs.
The Scots managed only seven hits in the first game, but Lawrence starter John Doran walked six in three innings. Chad Skaer tossed four innings of one-hit relief for the Vikings (2-13).
Robert Rashid and Phil Wisniewski had two hits apiece for the Vikings, and Michael Baldino drove in a pair of runs.
In the nightcap, Monmouth scored six times in the first against Lawrence starter Dan Salzbrenner. Brad Winkler’s two-run double was the key hit in the inning.
The Vikings chipped away at the lead with Rashid’s RBI double in the third and Rashid’s inside-the-park homer in the fifth.
The Scots led 7-2 after five, but Lawrence scored four times in the eighth. Alex Brewer picked up a RBI double, and Baldino had a two-run double to trim the lead to 7-6.
Lawrence had the bases loaded with one out, but Monmouth got out of the inning when Gabe Henriques flied out and Baldino was cut down at home trying to score on the play.
The Vikings had the tying run in scoring position in the ninth, but Brewer grounded out to end the contest.
Donnan went 4-for-4 in the nightcap, and Van Dusen was 2-for-4 for Monmouth. Rashid went 3-for-4 for the Vikings, and Baldino, Davide Harris and Marc Linger all had two hits apiece.
Matt Young pitched seven innings to get the win, and Salzbrenner took the loss.
Offense carries Vikings to sweep of Alverno
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team pounded out 24 hits and scored 22 runs en route to a nonconference doubleheader sweep of Alverno College on Monday.
Lawrence won the opener 11-6 and took the nightcap 11-8 at Alverno Field.
In the first game, Cathy Kaye paced Lawrence’s 11-hit attack by going 4-for-5 with a home run, two runs batted in and two runs scored. Carli Gurholt went 3-for-3 with a homer, drove in three runs and scored a pair of runs. Emily Perish was 3-for-4 and drove in three runs.
Lawrence (5-9) scored three times in the first courtesy of Gurholt’s three-run homer. The Vikings made it 5-0 in the third on Perish’s two-run single.
The Inferno (4-12) cut it to 5-4 in the bottom of the third, but Kaye belted a solo homer to make it 6-4 in the top of the fourth. Alverno tied it at 6-6 with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Lawrence took the lead for good by scoring twice in the top of the sixth. The Vikings scored after a walk and throwing error, and Kaye followed with a run-scoring double to give Lawrence a 8-6 lead.
Lawrence put the game away with three runs in the seventh. Perish hit a bullet down the right field line to score the first run, and Brielle Bartes capped the rally with a two-run single up the middle.
Perish pitched the first five innings to pick up the win. Jamie Villalobos went six innings and took the loss.
In the nightcap, Shannon Murray went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs for the Vikings. She also went the distance on the mound to pick up the win.
Kaye went 2-for-4, hit another homer, and drove in three runs in the second game. Bartes and Cory Paquette both had two hits apiece for the Vikings.
Lawrence raced out to a big lead before Alverno rallied in the nightcap.
Kaye led off the game with homer as part of a three-run first for the Vikings. Lawrence added another run in the second and picked up two more in the third to lead 6-1.
The Vikings then scored five times in the fifth on six hits and three Alverno errors. Kaye had a run-scoring double in the inning, and Perish picked up a RBI single to help Lawrence forge an 11-1 lead.
Alverno countered by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth to cut it to 11-4. Chelsea Gulbronson then hit a three-run homer as part of a four-run sixth inning to trim the lead to 11-8.
Murray then set the Inferno down in order in the seventh to seal the win. Murray allowed 13 hits, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. Emily Snell pitched the first five innings and took the loss.
Chicago takes pair from Vikings
CHICAGO, Ill. — The University of Chicago baseball team swept a nonconference doubleheader from Lawrence University on Sunday by the scores of 13-2 and 24-2 at J. Kyle Anderson Field.
Chicago (8-5) broke open a close game in the opener with five runs in the fourth inning. The Maroons then added four more runs in the fifth to seal the win.
Stephen Williams, JR Lopez and Steven Schwabe hd three hits apiece for Maroons in the opener. Lopez also drove in four runs.
Lawrence (2-11) was limited to four hits in the first game. Gabe Henriques collected one of the hits, a two-run triple in the third inning that tied the game at 2-2.
Alex Terry went the distance to pick up the win. Eric Bohling pitched the first three innings and took the loss.
In the nightcap, Chicago pounded out 25 hits against four Lawrence pitchers. Lopez went 4-for-4 with six runs batted in, and Ben Bullock was 4-for-5.
Robert Rashid and Alex Brewer had two hits apiece for the Vikings.
Matt O’Connor pitched six innings to pick up the win. Brian King went 2.1 innings and took the loss.
Carthage downs Lawrence tennis squad
WHITEWATER, Wis. — The Carthage College men’s tennis team downed Lawrence University 9-0 in a nonconference match on Saturday at UW-Whitewater.
Vikings drop pair to Beloit
BELOIT, Wis. — The Beloit College softball team posted a Midwest Conference doubleheader sweep of Lawrence University on Saturday by the scores of 3-0 and 13-5 at the Strong Complex Field.
In the opener, Katy Sandt scattered six hits over seven innings to post the shutout for Beloit (4-10, 2-0 MWC).
Beloit scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the sixth against Lawrence starter Shannon Murray. The big blow in the inning was Kandace Fox’s two-run double.
In the nightcap, the Bucs hit Lawrence starter Emily Perish hard. Beloit collected 12 hits against Perish in four inning.
Beloit scored eight times on six hits in the bottom of the first to take command. Sarah Stariha led Beloit by going 4-for-5 and scoring three runs in the nightcap.
Tess Jacquez pitched four innings to pick up the win for Beloit. She allowed five runs in six hits. Gaelen Lombard-Knapp went 2-for-3 and Carli Gurholt drove in a pair of runs for Lawrence (3-9, 0-2).
UW-Whitewater shuts out Lawrence
WHITEWATER, Wis. — The UW-Whitewater men’s tennis team posted a 9-0 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Saturday at the Williams Center.
UW-Whitewater 9, Lawrence University 0
Singles
1. Bayliss, WW, defeated Jason Dunn, LU, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
2. Osborne, WW, defeated Caleb Ray, LU, 6-1, 6-3
3. Balkin, WW, defeated Max Zlevor, LU, 6-0, 6-0
4. Krieger, WW, defeated Jeremy Andereck, LU, 6-0, 6-0
5. Scanlan, WW, defeated Roy Wimer, LU, 6-0, 6-0
6. Brady Porter, WW, defeated Zachary Cooper, LU, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. Bayliss/Niquet, WW, defeated Dunn/Zlevor, LU, 8-1
2. Scanlan/Krieger, WW, defeated Ray/Andereck, LU, 8-1
3. Kevin Friend/Klein, WW, defeated Wimer/Bile Ali, LU, 8-3
Stevens paces Vikings at Carroll Invitational
WAUKESHA, Wis. — Sam Stevens ran to a third-place finish in the 1,500 meters on Saturday to pace the Lawrence University track and field team.
Stevens was a little more than two seconds off the winning time of 4:06.14 of UW-Oshkosh’s Brett DeNure. Stevens finished in 4:08.53.
M. Jay Bouska, competing in his first collegiate meet, took sixth place in the triple jump with a leap of 38 feet, 3.5 inches.
The women were paced by Rose Tepper, who placed eighth in the high jump with a leap of 4-11.