Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Vikings pull out victory in final inning against Morris

CLERMONT, Fla. — Alex Chiodo’s single in the bottom of the seventh lifted the Lawrence University softball team to an 11-10 nonconference victory over the University of Minnesota-Morris at the National Training Center.

The Vikings had built a 10-2 lead after the first two innings, but Morris (0-7) chipped away at the lead. The Cougars then scored four times in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 10-10.

Lawrence started the winning rally in the bottom of the seventh when Gaelen Lombard-Knapp led off the inning with a single. Cory Paquette then got hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second.

After a pop up, a passed ball moved the runners to second and third. After another pop up, Chiodo laced a single to the outfield to score Lombard-Knapp with the winning run.

Carli Gurholt went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs batted in to pace the Vikings (2-1). Emily Perish went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs.

Shannon Murray, who had a double and drove in three runs, pitched the final inning and picked up the win.

Box score

McDaniel pulls away from Vikings

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The McDaniel College baseball team broke open a close game with four runs in the fifth inning and went on to a 16-4 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Wednesday.

McDaniel led 4-2 but scored four times in the fifth to go up 8-2. The Green Terror (4-3), which had 20 hits, scored five times in the eighth and three more times in the ninth to seal the victory.

Andrew Monger pitched the first five innings and picked up the win. Andrew Wilt tossed seven innings and took the loss.

Luke Barthelmess and Robert Rashid both had two hits to pace the Vikings (0-3).

Brandon Kline went 4-for-6 and scored three times to pace McDaniel. James Chiorello went 3-for-6 and drove in four runs for the Green Terror.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Young baseball squad looks to move up in MWC

No magic elixir exists for team chemistry, but every coach wants it because they will tell you it is a key to winning.

Lawrence University baseball coach Jason Anderson can’t tell you quite yet how his young team will develop this season, but the Vikings already have a key ingredient for success.

“I think this is chemistry-wise one of the closest teams I’ve ever been a part of,” said Anderson, who just started his third season coaching the Vikings. “We had to go through a season last year that was very humbling. Going through something like that was difficult, but it was a bonding experience. We’ve gotten better because of that.”

The Vikings went 7-29 a season ago and finished 2-14 in Midwest Conference play. Lawrence was picked by North Division coaches to finish last in the division this spring.

“I think that we’re much better than where we were picked in the conference to be perfectly honest with you, but we haven’t shown that,” Anderson said.

“We’re still in the process of getting our numbers up, but we have some good talent on the team. We learned a lot from our season last year, and we’re ready to move forward.”

The Vikings will be led by the team’s one proven star, senior center fielder Robert Rashid. He was an all-conference and all-region selection last season and led the team in batting average (.366), runs (33), hits (48), doubles (10), triples (2) and stolen bases (32).

“He (Rashid) sets the tone in the classroom, in practice, in the weight room and on the field,” Anderson said. “I don’t expect anything less than his best year this year.”

The rest of the Vikings are still very young. Twenty-one of Lawrence’s 24 players are either freshmen or sophomores.

“We’re younger this year than we were last year,” Anderson said. “The good news about that is half of those young guys have been around for a year and have had significant playing time.”

The Vikings return a strong group of sophomores, led by middle infielders Gabe Henriques and Davide Harris. Henriques hit .259 last year and displayed defensive ability that could make him one of the league’s best shortstops. The speedy Harris, who swiped 13 bases a year ago, hit .247 in 2010 and will be the starter at second base.

Sophomore Phil Wisniewski is back at third, and Michael Baldino returns in left field. Wisniewski and fellow sophomore Alex Brewer also will see time behind the plate.

“We took some steps forward toward the end of last year,” Anderson said. “We have the ability in us, but we have to improve the consistency, which comes with age and experience.”

The pitching staff struggled to a team earned run average of 9.86 last season, but Lawrence should get a boost from the return of Eric Bohling and the additions of Brian King, Chad Skaer and Luke Barthelmess. Bohling missed all of last season with an arm injury, and he also will be in the mix to play on the infield with Skaer and freshman Sam Kossow.

The Vikings also have experienced arms in senior Andrew Wilt and sophomores Sam Ausloos and John Revis.

“I think after the spring break trip we’ll have a good idea of what we have,” Anderson said. “Everyone is going to get a chance to play and pitch.”

Tepper TKO’d

Rose Tepper never got a chance to take flight at the NCAA Division III Championships last weekend.

The sophomore from Mount Vernon, Iowa, was scheduled to compete in the high jump last Saturday at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, but was knocked out by a case of food poisoning.

Both Tepper and head coach Jason Fast became ill the day before, and Tepper was still far too sick to take part in the meet on Saturday morning.

Tepper qualified for the meet when she broke the school record with a jump of 5 feet, 5.75 inches, on Feb. 5. She was then injured in practice and missed the Midwest Conference Championships. Tepper had returned to practice the week of the NCAA meet and was ready to compete.

Murray smacks ‘slam’

Sophomore Shannon Murray hit her first grand slam in Lawrence’s 14-1 victory over Franciscan University in the softball team’s season opener on Tuesday.

It was the first grand slam by a Lawrence player since Alex Goodson hit one against Grinnell College on April 18, 2009.

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.

Lawrence routs Franciscan in opening game of the season

CLERMONT, Fla. — Cathy Kaye got the Lawrence University softball season started with a bang.

Kaye homered in Lawrence’s first plate appearance of the season, just like she did in 2010, and the Vikings went on to rout Franciscan University 14-1 on Tuesday at the National Training Center.

Shannon Murray powered the Lawrence offense by going 4-for-4 with a grand slam and five runs batted in.

Emily Perish pitched the first two innings, and Cory Paquette tossed the final three. Paquette struck out four and walked two as the two pitchers combined to allow only three hits.

Lawrence jumped on the board with five runs in the first. Following Kaye’s lead-off homer, three walks and an error loaded the bases. Murray followed with a grand slam to put the Vikings up 5-0.

Kaye went 2-for-3 and Carli Gurholt was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI.

Box score

Vikings fall to 13th-ranked Cortland State

CLERMONT, Fla. — The State University of New York-Cortland defeated Lawrence University 7-3 in a nonconference softball game Tuesday at the National Training Center.

The 13th-ranked Red Dragons broke open a 2-2 game by scoring in each of the final three innings.

Lindsay Rowell pitched the first six innings and allowed only one hit, while walking one and striking out four.

Shannon Murray pitched the first six innings and took the loss.

Lawrence (1-1) led 2-1 after the first inning when the Vikings scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a pair of Cortland errors.

The game was tied 2-2 when Cortland scored once in the fifth and added two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Lawrence collected only three hits, one apiece by Carli Gurholt, Emily Perish and Mary Diduch, who broke up the no-hitter with her pinch-hit in the fifth.

Box score

Vikings drop pair in season-opening doubleheader

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Lawrence University baseball team dropped both games of its season-opening doubleheader with Franklin and Marshall College on Tuesday.

The Diplomats (5-5) won the opener 13-0 and took the nightcap 5-4 in eight innings.

In the nightcap, Lawrence (0-2) posted a 13-7 advantage in hits, but Franklin and Marshall scored twice in the top of the eighth to take the lead for good. The Vikings scored once in the bottom of the eighth but could not plate the equalizer.

Gabe Henriques went 3-for-5 in the nightcap to pace Lawrence’s attack. Robert Rashid, Eric Bohling, Tanner DeBettencourt and Michael Baldino had two hits apiece.

Bohling, coming back from an arm injury that forced him to miss the 2010 season, turned in a solid performance on the mound. He went six innings, allowed four hits, struck out five and walked one.

Rob Anderson went the distance, striking out seven and walking three, to pick up the win.

Franklin and Marshall scored twice in the third, but Lawrence tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Diplomats took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth, but Lawrence tied it in the bottom half of the inning. The score remained tied until the top of the eighth.

Will Benenson and Mike Amabile had two hits apiece for the Diplomats in the nightcap, and J.T. Triantos drove in a pair of runs.

In the opener, the Diplomats piled up 14 hits and scored in each of the first four innings to take command.

Eric Bornstein, Connor Devlin and Benenson all had two hits for Franklin and Marshall. Bornstein capped the Diplomats’ six-run fourth inning with a grand slam.

Brian King pitched the first three innings and took the loss for the Vikings. Eric Herbst went the distance, allowing only three hits, to pick up the win.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Fencers compete at NCAA regional

DETROIT, Mich. — The Lawrence University fencing team took part in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday and Sunday at Wayne State University.

Madeline Cooper paced the women’s team by taking 14th place in sabre. Mariah Wilkerson took 15th in epee, and Caitlyn Hoglund grabbed 17th in foil.

On the men’s side, Frederick Breslow and Alex Biehl led the Vikings. Breslow was 12th in sabre and Biehl took 12th in foil. Matthew DeStasio was Lawrence’s top finisher in epee as he took 14th.

Results

Food poisoning knocks Tepper out of NCAA Championships

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A case of food poisoning kept Lawrence University track and field standout Rose Tepper from competing at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday.

Tepper (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) and Lawrence head coach Jason Fast both became ill on Friday. Tepper was scheduled to compete in the high jump on Saturday morning at Capital University but was still far too ill to take part in the meet.

This was the first trip to the NCAA Championships for Tepper, who earned a qualifying spot when she jumped 5 feet, 5.75 inches, on Feb. 5. That jump broke Madeline Steininger’s school record.

This caps what has been a rough month for Tepper. She injured her knee several weeks ago while stretching before practice. That injury forced her to miss the Midwest Conference Championships. Tepper had returned to practice this past Monday and left for the NCAA Championships on Wednesday.

Lawrence men grab sixth, women 12th at MFC Championships

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Lawrence University men’s team led the way on March 5-6 by taking sixth place among the 20 teams in the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at the University of Notre Dame.

The Lawrence women finished in 12th place among the 19 teams.

Lawrence placed ninth in the combined team standings. Notre Dame won both the men’s and women’s titles.

Results

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings aim to be contender in MWC softball race

Filling out the lineup card will not be a matter of routine for Lawrence University softball coach Kim Tatro this spring.

With a deeper and more versatile team than she has had in several seasons, Tatro will have more options when she puts pen to paper in the dugout. The hope is that translates into more victories and a return to the Midwest Conference Tournament, a four-team gathering in which Lawrence was a regular participant for most of the last 15 years.

“I think that’s our focus every year,” Tatro said of playing in the MWC Tournament. “We’ve fallen short the last couple of years. Conference play and being one of the top two teams in the North Division is the goal.”

Lawrence finished 16-16 in 2010 and that included a 6-7 mark in conference play. While the Vikings lost four-time all-conference selection Alex Goodson to graduation, the Vikings return the other seven position starters, including three all-conference selections, from last season and their top two pitchers.

The Vikings also have five freshman, and the lone senior is 2009 MWC North Division Player of the Year is shortstop Carli Gurholt.

“We have youth but better depth than we’ve had the past couple of years,” said Tatro, a five-time MWC Coach of the Year. “We’re the type of team that has to stay healthy to be successful. I feel great about the flexibility of our depth. We’ve purposefully recruited the types of kids who can play multiple positions.”

That type of versatility starts with the pitching staff, which will likely be in the lineup whether they are on the mound or not.

Junior Emily Perish and sophomore Shannon Murray split time on the mound last season. Murray, a 2010 all-conference and all-region selection, went 10-6 with a 3.69 earned run average and threw only the second no-hitter in school history. She also played in the infield and outfield and hit .347 with 16 runs batted in. Perish was 6-10 with a 3.55 ERA and played on the infield. She hit .295 and was second on the team with 19 RBI.

“As a junior, Emily has a great understanding of what to expect from the college game,” Tatro said. “Shannon’s only a sophomore, but as a freshman she was out there a ton. With the addition of Cory Paquette, it really gives us a solid three-pitcher rotation and some options.”

Paquette, a former standout at Manitowoc Roncalli, will likely see time at second base with Perish. Murray is likely to play first when she’s not pitching.

Gurholt, who missed the final three weeks of the 2010 season with an injury, returns to play shortstop. She hit .340 with four homers and 18 RBI in only 19 games last season. Tatro said Gurholt has looked good in her return from injury.

Sophomore Courtney Steile and freshman Alissa Geipel will battle for the starting job at third base, and sophomore Gaelen Lombard-Knapp is back behind the plate.

The Vikings return all-conference outfielders Cathy Kaye in left and Katie Simonsen in center, although the latter has yet to join the team after studying in London during the winter term.

Kaye hit .398 with six homers and 17 RBI last season, and Simonsen hit .358 and drove in 13 runs in 2010. Tatro said any number of players could see action in right field.

“I think we’re more balanced and we don’t have to rely on the middle of our lineup to get things done,” Tatro said. “On any given day, one through nine can get it done at a clutch moment. I think that takes the pressure off everyone, but to get it done everyone has to step up.”

Tatro said she plans to use the team’s 10-game spring break trip (March 15-20) to Clermont, Fla., to evaluate how the squad will fit together.

“Everyone on our roster is going play in Florida,” Tatro said. “They are all going to be given opportunities to compete for spots.”

Tepper goes national

Lawrence track and field standout Rose Tepper qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships this weekend at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, in the high jump.

Tepper became a provisional qualifier when she jumped 5 feet, 5.75 inches, on Feb. 5 and broke the school record in the process. She didn’t have much of a chance to improve on that when she injured her knee and was forced to miss the MWC Championships.

It appeared as though Tepper was going to miss the meet when two jumpers went higher than she did at last-chance meets on March 5. Tepper entered last weekend tied for the 10th-best jump in the nation, and the Lawrence coaches anticipated the NCAA would take only 11 jumper. Tepper got her ticket punched to the national championships when the NCAA took 20 jumpers instead of the anticipated 11.

This is the first trip to the NCAA meet for Tepper, a sophomore from Mount Vernon, Iowa, and the 2010 MWC outdoor champ in the high jump.

Sheridan all-tournament

Senior defenseman Jon Sheridan was chosen for the all-tournament team at the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association’s Harris Cup this past weekend.

The Midland, Mich., native and team captain assisted on both goals in Lawrence’s loss to Adrian College in the semifinals. Sheridan finished the season with four goals and 10 assists for 14 points.

DMR record falls

The men’s distance medley relay team broke the school record at the UW-Stevens Point Pointer Qualifier this past Saturday.

The team of Dan Thoresen, Cam Blegen, Mike Mangian and Sam Stevens raced to a time of 10:33.27. That broke the mark of 10:39.83, which was set in 2010 by Stevens, Mark Sprtel, Matt Frelich and Sam Estrem.

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.