Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Davies races to Performer of the Week award

Cam Davies
Cam Davies

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University track and field standout Cam Davies has been named the Midwest Conference Track Performer of the Week.

Davies (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South) won the honor in the wake of turning in the Midwest Conference’s fastest time of the season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Hillsdale College Gina Relays.

Davies finished 23rd in the event against an elite field of Division I, II and III runners in a time of 9:38.90. That is the fastest time in the conference by nearly 13 seconds.

This is the first weekly honor for the Vikings during the outdoor season. Freshman Ethan Gniot (Ashwaubenon, Wis./Ashwaubenon) was chosen during the indoor season.

Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it hosts the Lawrence Invitational at Whiting Field.

Rude tosses gem to down Vikings

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Adam Rude tossed a one-hit shutout to lead the UW-Oshkosh baseball team to a 7-0 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Tuesday at Tiedemann Field.

The only hit allowed by Rude was an eighth-inning single from freshman Travis Weber. Rude struck out four, walked two and hit two batters.

The Titans (21-14) piled up 13 hits against six Lawrence (10-22) pitchers. John Eagan and Andy Brahier both had two hits and both drove in two runs for Oshkosh.

The Titans scored once in the first inning and added three more in the second to pull away. Oshkosh added three more insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings for the final margin.

Box score

Belletini picks up second MWC Player of the Week honor

Sam Belletini
Sam Belletini

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University softball standout Sam Belletini has been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season.

Belletini (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) hit .600 for the week as she led Lawrence to a 5-1 record and the Midwest Conference North Division title.

Belletini, who was named the Player of the Week on April 13, went 12-for-20 at the plate with three doubles, a home run and five runs batted in. Belletini compiled a .619 on-base percentage and had a .900 slugging percentage for the six games.

The Vikings picked up a doubleheader sweep of St. Norbert College on April 22 and then split with Carroll University on April 25 to claim the North Division title and the right to host the MWC Tournament. Lawrence then finished the week with a sweep of Rockford University on April 26.

Belletini is now hitting .388 on the season with 12 doubles, four homers and 23 runs batted in.

Lawrence (26-10) returns to play on Friday when the Vikings open MWC Tournament play against Cornell College at noon at Whiting Field.

Bruning, relay teams pace Vikings at Drake Alternative

WHITEWATER, Wis. — Clare Bruning and the Lawrence relay teams paced the Vikings on Sunday at the Drake Alternative Meet at UW-Whitewater.

Bruning took second in the 5,000 meters in 18:53.71, trailing only former national champion Christy Cazzola. Margaret Huck finished fourth in the event for Lawrence at 19:31.75.

The Vikings also had a strong showing in the 800 meters as Kate Kilgus grabbed third place in 2:27.23 and Noelle Hele took fifth in 2:33.24.

The women’s 400 relay team took second in 55.75 seconds, and the 1,600 relay team was second in 4:25.45.

On the men’s side, Lawrence’s 1,600 relay finished first in 3:40.23, and the 400 relay team was second in 47.15 seconds.

The top individual finisher was Ethan Gniot, who raced to fourth in the 800 in 1:59.91.

Results

Doubles teams come up short at MWC Championships

MADISON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis doubles teams came up short on Sunday during the Midwest Conference Championships at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

Lawrence’s No. 1 doubles team won its opening match, but David Jumes and Sotaro Kurahashi were eliminated by Knox College in the championship quarterfinals.

The No. 2 team of Mitch Kasprzyk and Adam Busch lost their opening match in the championship quarterfinals and dropped to the consolation bracket. Kasprzyk and Busch won in the consolation semifinals but fell 8-1 to Cornell College in the consolation final.

Ben Tomhave and Izaya Turenne also lost in the championship quarterfinals but came back to beat Knox in the consolation semifinals. Tomhave and Turenne then lost to Monmouth College 8-1 in the consolation final.

Results

Vikings finish ninth at St. Norbert Invitational

WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis. — The Lawrence University golf team finished ninth at the St. Norbert College Invitational at Royal St. Patrick’s Golf Links.

The Vikings recorded a team score of 356 on Sunday to complete the 36-hole event. Lawrence’s score of 725 was just four shots behind eighth-place Lake Forest College.

The top player for the Vikings was Nigel Schuster, whose score of 175 was good for a tie for 33rd place. Nathan Ley shot the low score of the tournament for the Vikings with an 84 on Sunday. He finished in 39th place.

Results

Ripon takes pair from Vikings; Gordon ties career hits record

APPLETON, Wis. — The Ripon College baseball team held off Lawrence University in the opener on Sunday and then pulled away late to take game two in a Midwest Conference doubleheader at Whiting Field.

Ripon won the first game 5-4 and took the nightcap 14-3.

In the opener, Ripon (15-12, 10-2 MWC) built a 4-0 lead in the top of the third, but Lawrence rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Anthony Ortiz singled and Brandon Klar was hit by a pitch and both came home on Matthew Holliday’s two-run single.

Holliday went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs for Lawrence (10-21, 2-14).

Ripon got a run back in the top of the sixth, but the Vikings battled back in the bottom of the eighth. Klar led off with a double and Jake Gordon followed with another double to score Klar and trim the lead to 5-3. Gordon later scored on Holliday’s ground out to cut the lead to 5-4.

Jeff Schuurmans got the final out of the eighth and then worked around a single in the ninth to pick up the save.

In the nightcap, Ripon scored nine runs in the final two innings to break the game open.

Lawrence led 1-0 after Holliday’s RBI double in the first, but Ripon struck for three runs in the third to take the lead.

The Red Hawks made it 4-1 in the top of the sixth, but Lawrence rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Tim Kinsella singled to start the rally, and Davis Ogilvie then reached on an error. Travis Weber singled to score Kinsella, and the Vikings later executed a double steal to score Ogilvie and trim the lead to 5-3.

Michael Polcyn hit a solo homer to give Ripon a 6-3 lead in the seventh. The Red Hawks then added three runs in the eighth, the big blow coming on Nick Uhen’s two-run homer. Uhen finished 4-for-5 with five runs batted in.

Ripon then scored six times in the ninth as Polcyn homered again, and Nick Kita and Uhen both had two-run doubles.

Holliday went 2-for-4 in the nightcap for Ripon. Gordon had a single in the fifth for the 154th hit of his career, which ties the school’s career record held by Andrew Wong.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Jaskolski ties home run record as Vikings finish regular season with sweep of Rockford

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team rallied for a win in the opener and then rolled to a big victory in game two to sweep a nonconference doubleheader from Rockford University on Sunday at Whiting Field.

Lawrence won the first game 4-3 and took the nightcap 9-1 in five innings. In the second game, Amanda Jaskolski hit her 12th homer of the season to tie Carli Gurholt’s season record.

In the opener, Lawrence (26-10) rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn the victory. The Vikings got its offense going in the fifth when Marisa Thackston led off the inning with a double. After an out, Rheya Upadhyaya singled to score Thackston and trim the lead to 3-1.

Following another out, Savanna Marsicek delivered a run-scoring triple to cut the lead to 3-2. Jaskolski followed with another single to score Marsicek and tie the game. Sam Belletini then rifled a double to left-center to score Jaskolski and Lawrence led 4-3. Kori Looker followed with another single, but Belletini was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

Pitcher Liz Barthels, who entered the game in the fourth, retired the final five Rockford (7-32) hitters she faced to pick up her 12th win of the season. She allowed three hits, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

In the nightcap, Lawrence led 2-1 before busting the game open in the fourth inning with seven runs on seven hits as the Vikings sent 13 hitters to the plate.

The Vikings did all the damage after two outs with Marsicek starting the scoring with an RBI double to make it 3-1. Jaskolski followed with a mammoth two-run homer for a 5-1 lead. Lawrence had five more hits in the frame, including a two-run double by Katie Schumacher, a run-scoring double by Taylor Dodson and an RBI single by Upadhyaya. When the dust settled, Lawrence led 9-1.

Jessica Demski retired the side in order in the fifth to close out the game by the eight-run rule in just 54 minutes. Demski went the distance and allowed three hits to improve to 4-0 on the season.

Belletini went 3-for-3 to pace Lawrence’s 14-hit attack, and Jaskolski, Looker, Dodson and Schumacher all had two hits for the Vikings. Jaskolski, Dodson and Schumacher all drove in two runs apiece.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Vikings ninth after first round at SNC Invitational

WRIGHTSTOWN, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s golf team is in ninth place after Saturday’s opening round of the St. Norbert College Invitational at Royal St. Patrick’s Golf Links.

Nigel Schuster led the Vikings with a first-round 88 on the par-72 layout at Royal St. Pat’s. Ryan Eardley fired a 90, Ryan Clark was at 93 and Nathan Ley carded a 98.

Lawrence finished with a team score of 369. Carthage College leads at 317.

Results

Davies runs fastest league time in steeplechase at Hillsdale

HILLSDALE, Mich. — Junior Cam Davies turned in the Midwest Conference’s fastest time of the season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Hillsdale College Gina Relays.

Davies finished 23rd in the event against an elite field of Division I, II and III runners in a time of 9:38.90. That is the fastest time in the conference by nearly 13 seconds.

Max Edwards and Erin Schrobilgen also ran for the Vikings. Edwards placed 45th in the men’s 5,000 meters in 15:36.38. Schrobilgen placed 49th in the women’s 5,000 in 19:16.29.

Results