Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Foresters take two from Lawrence

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lake Forest College softball team used great pitching and a powerful offense Saturday to take both games of a Midwest Conference doubleheader from Lawrence University at Whiting Field.

The Foresters won the opener 6-0 and took the nightcap 10-1 in six innings.

In the first game, Jessi Werner pitched Lake Forest (22-11, 16-2 MWC) to the victory. She allowed five hits, struck out two and walked one. Jessica Demski went the distance and took the loss for Lawrence (17-13-1, 10-7).

Lake Forest took control of the game early with a pair of runs in the first and two more in the second. Kaleigh Ambrose and Kat Beall both had two hits for Lake Forest, and Ambrose drove in three runs.

In the second game, Lake Forest broke open a close game with three runs in the fifth and then scored four times in the sixth. Maria Zepeda went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and drove in four for the Foresters.

Jenny McTague went the distance, allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked two, to pick up the win. Maddie MacLean went the distance and took the loss.

Savanna Marsicek and Taylor Dodson both went 2-for-3 to pace the Vikings.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Davies runs league’s fastest time in steeplechase at Gina Relays

HILLSDALE, Mich. — Lawrence University track standout Cam Davies turned in the fastest time in the Midwest Conference in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Friday at the Gina Relays.

Running in the prestigious event at Hillsdale College, Davies finished 22nd in 9:31.89, which is the fastest time in the conference this season by eight seconds. Kieran DeGroot of Carroll University had held the league’s top time.

The event was won by an unattached runner, Dylan Lafond, and the top finisher representing a school was Hillsdale’s Anthony Wondaal, who was third in 8:55.47.

Schuster stays in contention at MWC Championships

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Lawrence University standout Nigel Schuster stayed in contention during Friday’s second round of the Midwest Conference Championships at Aldeen Golf Club.

Schuster is in fifth place after carding an 81 on the par-72 layout. He has a 36-hole score of 156. Carroll University’s Henry Mulvey fired a 3-under par 69 to move to 4-under for the tournament with a 36-hole score of 140.

Carroll is dominating the championships after carding a 298 in the second round. The Pioneers have a team score of 601 and are 26 shots ahead of second-place Lake Forest College. Lawrence is in eighth place with a team score of 687 after shooting a 337 on Friday.

Lawrence’s Nathan Ley is tied for 36th after shooting 84 on Friday. He has a 36-hole total of 174. Austin Frank is tied for 40th at 177 and Ryan Clark is 43rd at 180.

The 54-hole event wraps up on Saturday.

Results

Vikings fall to Grinnell in MWC Tournament semifinals

MADISON, Wis. — The Grinnell College men’s tennis team won the first five matches Friday and downed Lawrence University 5-0 in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

Grinnell (28-5) advances to the championship match, and Lawrence ends its season with a 12-10 record. The Vikings were making their first appearance in the MWC Tournament since 2013.

The Pioneers picked up impressive wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, and Lawrence’s David Brooker and Bill Schuman-Kline battled at No. 2 but fell 8-5.

Grinnell then closed out the match with wins at Nos. 3 and 6 singles.

Grinnell College 5, Lawrence University 0

Singles competition
1. David Jumes (LU) vs. CJ Ray (GC) no result
2. Brian DeCorte (LU) vs. Cole Miller (GC) no result
3. Tracy Johnson (GC) def. Bill Schuman-Kline (LU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) vs. Sam Stickels (GC) no result
5. Adam Busch (LU) vs. Tommy Pitcher (GC) no result
6. Sam Catanzaro (GC) def. Ethan Perushek (LU) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. CJ Ray/Cole Miller (GC) def. Brian DeCorte/David Jumes (LU) 8-1
2. Tracy Johnson/Sam Stickels (GC) def. David Brooker/Bill Schuman-Kline (LU) 8-5
3. Tommy Pitcher/Bryson Cale (GC) def. Adam Busch/Izaya Turenne (LU) 8-0

Janusiak grabs second in 10K at Gina Relays

HILLSDALE, Mich. — Lawrence University freshman Josh Janusiak grabbed second place in the 10,000 meters on Thursday at the Gina Relays at Hillsdale College.

Janusiak raced to the wire with Brandon Price of Spalding University. Price won the event in 32:21.68, and Janusiak was on his heels and finished in 32:25.10.

Janusiak now has the fastest time in the Midwest Conference in the 10,000 by more than a minute. The second-fastest time in the league belongs to Alberto Torres of Beloit at 33:42.43.

Lawrence’s Clare Bruning and Erin Schrobilgen both competed in the 5,000 meters. Bruning placed 61st in 18:51.24, and Schrobilgen was 63rd in 18:52.57. Jenny Rogers of Michigan State won the event in 17:13.35.

Results

Schuster tied for fourth after opening round of MWC Championships

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Nigel Schuster is tied for fourth place after Thursday’s opening round of the Midwest Conference Championships at Aldeen Golf Club.

Schuster carded a 3-over par 75 on the par-72 layout. Schuster is four shots off the lead of Henry Mulvey of Carroll University. Mulvey fired a 1-under par 71.

Lawrence carded a team score of 350, which puts the Vikings in eighth place. Carroll leads the team standings at 303.

Round two is scheduled for Friday, and the 54-hole event wraps up on Saturday.

Results

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings take quantum leap with berth in MWC Tournament

The Lawrence men's tennis team has qualified for the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament on Friday.
The Lawrence men’s tennis team has qualified for the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament on Friday.

APPLETON, Wis. — Steve Francour knew when he arrived at Lawrence University in the fall of 2013 there was work to be done with the men’s tennis program. He also knew he had something to work with.

Three years later, the Vikings are back in the Midwest Conference Tournament and will be playing for a shot at reaching the NCAA Division III Tournament this weekend.

“The combination of existing players and new players made us good,” said Francour. “But we are really going to have to replenish because we have four seniors. This is a huge step to make the team tournament because it puts you in a different category among the conference teams.”

Lawrence plays Grinnell College at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament at Nielsen Tennis Stadium at the University of Wisconsin. The winner faces either Lake Forest College or Monmouth College for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Just making the team tournament is a step forward for the Vikings, who won just four matches in Francour’s first season after finishing second in the league in 2013. Lawrence went 12-9 this season and posted a 6-3 mark in league play.

“That’s a quantum leap in three years. That’s not an easy jump. That doesn’t happen. It’s exciting to see where we’re going,” Francour said.

“For this group of guys, there are some of them that were on the (2013) team that had a lot of success. I think for them to be a part of the early success and to develop as players and be a part of this success really means a lot.”

Brian DeCorte was a freshman starter back in 2013, and fellow seniors Adam Busch, Mitch Kasprzyk and Ethan Perushek were all on the squad. Over the past three years, Lawrence has added quality players in David Jumes, Izaya Turenne, Bill Schuman-Kline and David Brooker, who are all a part of the lineup.

“I’m glad that we could finish the season for our four seniors on a high note, because they took second at conference their freshman year and we all wanted to send them back again,” Jumes said.

This team’s season came to a head this past Saturday against Cornell College. A win over the Rams would clinch a MWC Tournament for Lawrence. The Vikings swept the doubles matches and it was seniors Busch and Perushek who delivered wins in singles to push Lawrence past the Rams 5-4.

“The guys were extremely excited. Both teams, Cornell and us, knew what was at stake. Sometimes that makes it harder to perform,” Francour said.

“To see the progress of the players and have four seniors that all contributed to our win against Cornell and have the new guys see what it takes to be good is what you need to develop a program.”

The Vikings now face a team they lost to just a week ago, but Francour wants his team to enjoy the moment.

“It’s always kind of an interesting dilemma,” Francour said. “You just played a team that handled you fairly easily and now you have to play them again with much more at stake. My message will be we got this far, let’s play loose and what happens, happens.”

The singles and doubles championships will be contested over the weekend. Jumes and DeCorte are Lawrence’s top doubles team and are expected to contend for the title.

“I have a lot of confidence in doubles with Brian because we’ve played well together for this last stretch of conference matches, and we just learned today that we’re the one seed for conference,” Jumes said. “We’ll go out there, give it our all and hope to bring some hardware home from the weekend.”

 

MacLean homers, pitches Vikings past Ripon

RIPON, Wis. — Maddie MacLean belted a solo homer Wednesday and went the distance in the circle to lead the Lawrence University softball team to a 5-3 Midwest Conference win over Ripon College.

The second game of the scheduled doubleheader was halted in the 12th inning due to darkness with the score tied 1-1. That game will not be resumed and will be recorded as a tie.

MacLean allowed nine hits, struck out three and walked two to improve to 10-6 on the season. She went 2-for-3 and smacked a homer in the fifth inning.

Anna Wawiorka went 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs the Vikings (17-11-2, 10-5-1 MWC). Tierney Duffy was 2-for-4, swiped a pair of bases and scored a run for Lawrence.

Lexi Reetz allowed seven hits and took the loss for Ripon (2-29, 2-13).

Lawrence scored once in the first on Katie Schumacher’s bases-loaded walk, and led 3-1 after two innings with the help of Wawiorka’s run-scoring single in the second.

Ripon cut the lead to 3-2 after three innings, but the Vikings picked up single runs in the fourth and fifth. In the fourth, Duffy singled and scored on Wawiorka’s RBI triple. MacLean then hit a one-out solo homer in the fifth for a 5-2 lead.

Ripon picked up a run in the sixth, but MacLean worked a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the win.

In the second game, Ripon scored one run in the third and Lawrence got one in the sixth to tie it.

Reetz went the distance for Ripon before the game was called due to darkness. She allowed five hits, struck out 12 and walked five. Jessica Demski made the start and went 5.2 innings for Lawrence. MacLean tossed 5.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Savanna Marsicek collected a pair of hits for the Vikings.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Platteville takes two from Vikings

APPLETON, Wis. — The UW-Platteville baseball team used a bevy of unearned runs to sweep a nonconference doubleheader from Lawrence University on Tuesday at Whiting Field.

Platteville won the opener 5-1 and took the nightcap 10-7.

In the first game, the Pioneers (15-16) got a good pitching performance from Colton Bormann, who went the distance, allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked two.

Platteville got all the offense it would need when the Pioneers scored three times, all with two outs, in the second. Evan Greco and George Jester both had two hits for the Pioneers, and Jester drove in a run.

Nolan Spencer and Zach Rabideau both had two hits for the Vikings (8-17), and Andrew Lauber drove in Lawrence’s lone run with a sacrifice fly in the third.

Matt Holliday pitched three innings, allowed three runs, and took the loss.

In the second game, the Pioneers scored six unearned runs as the Vikings committed five errors. Casey Schroeder went 3-for-4, scored twice and drove in two runs for Platteville.

Lauber went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs for the Vikings, and Travis Weber went 2-for-4 and drove in a run.

Platteville scored three in the top of the first, but Lawrence grabbed a 4-3 edge with three runs in the third. Weber had a run-scoring double, and an error on a ground ball allowed two more runs to score.

Platteville took the lead back with two unearned runs in the fourth, but the Vikings countered with two in the bottom of the inning for a 6-5 lead. Lauber delivered a two-out, two-run single to put the Vikings on top.

The Pioneers took the lead for good at 8-6 with three more unearned runs in the fifth. Platteville added single runs in the sixth and seventh.

Lawrence picked up a run to cut the lead to 10-7 on Dante Reese’s run-scoring single in the seventh. The Vikings had two on and the tying run at the plate, but reliever Ben Zwitter got a strikeout and groundout to end the game.

Scottie Gordon pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win. Rabideau allowed five runs, all unearned, in two innings of relief and took the loss.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Clark paces Lawrence at St. Norbert Invitational

WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis. — Ryan Clark finished in a tie for 23rd place Sunday to pace the Lawrence University golf team at the St. Norbert College Invitational at Royal St. Patrick’s Golf Links.

Clark carded scores of 85 and 79 on the par-72 layout to finish with a 36-hole total of 164. Nick Mueller and Joe Scherer of St. Norbert and Lake Forest College’s Ricky Schmidt tied for first place with a score of 151.

Rounding out the scoring for Lawrence were: Nathan Ley at 167 (T28), Nigel Schuster at 166 (32nd), Austin Frank at 178 (T40) and Ryan Eardley at 182 (42nd).

Results