Joseph Vanden Acker

APPLETON, Wis. — Jessi Werner tossed a five-hit shutout to lead the Lake Forest College softball team to a 5-0 win over Lawrence University in the Midwest Conference Championship Game on Saturday at Whiting Field.

Lake Forest (31-8) did not allow a run in its three games in the tournament to claim its second consecutive league title. Lawrence (28-12) finished second in the league for the second time in three seasons.

Werner struck out 13 and didn’t walk a batter after throwing a perfect game against Carroll University in the tournament opener on Friday.

Alex Hemmer went 3-for-4 and scored two runs for Lake Forest, and Sally Snarski went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs.

Savanna Marsicek collected two of Lawrence’s three hits. Kara Vance went 4.1 innings and allowed four runs to take the loss.

Lake Forest grabbed the lead with two runs in the third and then added insurance runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team got a stellar pitching performance from Liz Barthels on Saturday and went on to a 4-1 win over Carroll University in an elimination game at the Midwest Conference Tournament.

Lawrence’s win propelled the Vikings into the conference championship game at Whiting Field against Lake Forest College.

Barthels went the distance and allowed just four hits while striking out two and walking none. Carroll got its lone run in the seventh inning after Barthels had limited the Pioneers to one hit over the first six innings.

Anna Wawiorka went 2-for-4, drove in a run and scored a run, and Amanda Jaskolski drove in a pair of runs. Jaskolski finished the season with 46 runs batted in to break the Lawrence season record of 45. She hit her 13th homer of the season on Friday to claim that season record as well.

Lawrence went up 1-0 in the first when Savanna Marsicek walked, stole second and scored on Jaskolski’s single.

The score remained that way until the fifth when the Vikings struck for two runs. Tierney Duffy started in with an infield single and then stole second. She scored on Wawiorka’s single, who later came home on Jaskolski’s sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Lawrence made it 4-0 in the top of the seventh when Duffy reached on an error and came home to score Marsicek’s single.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — Jenny McTague and Jessi Werner combined on a two-hit shutout to lead Lake Forest College to a 3-0 win over Lawrence University on Friday in a winners’ bracket game at the Midwest Conference Tournament.

McTague allowed two hits over 5.1 innings to get the win at Whiting Field. She struck out five and walked two. Werner threw 1.2 innings of hitless relief, striking out four and walking none, to get the save.

The win puts Lake Forest (30-8) in Saturday’s conference championship game at noon. Lawrence (27-11) faces Carroll University in an elimination game at 10 a.m., with the winner moving on to face the Foresters for the title.

Lawrence starter Liz Barthels was solid as she allowed just two earned runs on six hits while going the distance.

Lake Forest got two runs in the fourth after Alex Hemmer and Sally Snarksi got back-to-back, one-out hits. A ground out and single scored both runs and the Foresters led 2-0. Lake Forest added an unearned run in the fifth for the final margin.

Lawrence had two great scoring chances but couldn’t cash in. The Vikings had runners at second and third with no outs in the second, but McTague then struck out the next three hitters. The Vikings had runners at first and second with one out in the sixth, but Werner came in and struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.

Box score

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.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team is hoping the third time is the charm.

Lawrence makes its third consecutive trip to the Midwest Conference Tournament, and the Vikings will have the benefit of some home cooking as they host the event at Whiting Field. The tournament starts at 10 a.m. Friday, and the title game is at noon on Saturday.

“Our team, especially this year but in the last five years, we play best when we’re relaxed and having fun,” Lawrence coach Kim Tatro said. “They know the task at hand. We don’t have to talk about that, but they know the quality of of our opponents. If we play up to our ability, then whatever happens, happens. As long as we do that, we have nothing to feel bad about.”

The tournament champion gets an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, and Lawrence is looking for its third trip to the national tournament and first since 1999.

The Vikings (26-10) won the right to host the tournament by winning their first North Division title since 2005. Lawrence, which has won three MWC titles, defeated Carroll University last Saturday to claim first in the North Division.

“It was nice to play well in a pressure situation and win the ability to host the tournament and be the North Division No. 1 seed,” Tatro said. “We also know we have our work cut out for us because everyone in the tournament is solid in every aspect of the game.”

Solid describes the Vikings quite well, especially the pitching staff. Lawrence doesn’t have a flamethrower on the staff, but the Vikings do have three very good pitchers.

Senior Liz Barthels is 12-5 with a 2.02 earned run average, and senior Kara Vance is 10-5 with a 3.16 ERA. While Barthels and Vance have combined to strike out 69 this season, they average just 0.7 walks per seven innings. Junior Jessica Demski has been outstanding in her spot starts and has a 4-0 record and a 3.00 ERA. It was Demski who won the division-clinching game against Carroll.

“We’re not relying on one big strikeout pitcher,” Tatro said. “We really rely on three pitchers that all have different strengths. It gives us an opportunity to do different things with that kind of flexibility.”

The Lawrence offense and defense is paced by senior shortstop Amanda Jaskolski, the reigning MWC North Division Player of the Year and a first-team All-Great Lakes Region selection.

Jaskolski enters the tournament hitting .472 with eight doubles, one triple, a school-record 12 homers and 40 runs batted in. She has a .588 on-base and .906 slugging percentage. Lawrence also has clean-up hitter Sam Belletini, a sophomore catcher. She is hitting .388 with 12 doubles, four homers and 23 RBIs.

“With the quality of the teams in the tournament, everyone is going to have to rise to the occasion for us to be successful,” Tatro said. “We’ve talked all year about not having to rely on the big boppers because if others get on base, it makes it hard to work around them. You can’t take away those players if others are getting it done.”

The Vikings have some great table-setters, starting with No. 9 hitter Tierney Duffy, who is hitting .398. Lead-off hitter Anna Wawiorka is at .315 and hasn’t been thrown out attempting to steal in 16 tries this season. Three more Lawrence starters, left fielder Kori Looker (.347), designated player Taylor Dodson (.333) and first baseman Katie Schumacher (.321) are all hitting above .300.

“Across the board, people have stepped up their game,” said Tatro, whose team has won 10 of its last 11. “I think one of the things that has made us difficult to beat at times is the balance. Different people coming through at different times.”

The Vikings face a challenging tournament field that features South Division champion Lake Forest College, which is at 28-8. South Division runner-up Cornell College has the best record in the conference at 30-6, and Carroll is at 21-15. Lake Forest is the defending champion, and Cornell won the title at Whiting Field in 2013.

“I really wouldn’t be surprised if any of the four teams won it,” Tatro said. “It’s whoever is playing well at the right time and making critical plays when they count.”