Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Busch, Turenne take consolation titles at MWC Championships

MADISON, Wis. — Adam Busch and Izaya Turenne both captured consolation titles to pace the Lawrence University men’s tennis team during singles competition on Saturday at the Midwest Conference Championships.

Busch rebounded after falling in the championship quarterfinals to defeat Ripon College’s Nick Julian 8-0 in the consolation semifinals. Busch then downed Cornell College’s Reid Lange 8-1 for the consolation title.

Turenne also lost in the championship quarterfinals but came back to win two matches. Turenne defeated Kahlo Vue of St. Norbert College 8-5 in the consolation semifinals and then topped Cornell’s Denton Tully 8-3 in the consolation final.

None of Lawrence’s other four singles players advanced past the championship quarterfinals.

Results

Vikings drop heartbreaker, lose two to Ripon

RIPON, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team lost an 11-inning heartbreaker to Ripon College in the opener of a Midwest Conference doubleheader on Saturday and then dropped the nightcap at Francis Field.

Ripon won the first game 1-0, and the Red Hawks fired a one-hitter and won 12-0 in the nightcap.

In the opener, both teams had scoring chances but the game was scoreless headed to the 11th inning.

In the top half of the 11th, Jake Gordon ripped a one-out double, and Matthew Holliday followed with a single to put runners at the corners for Lawrence (10-19, 2-12 MWC). The Red Hawks (13-12, 8-2) then got an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

In the bottom half of the inning, Michael Polcyn led off with a triple and then scored on Nick Schmitt’s single to win it.

Patrick Van Daalwyk tossed 10.1 innings of shutout baseball for Ripon, but it was Michael Anderson who picked up the win by getting the double-play ground ball in the 11th.

Holliday had a pair of hits for Lawrence, and Polcyn finished with two hits for Ripon.

In the nightcap, Marshall Zahn tossed a one-hitter for Ripon. The only hit he allowed was Holliday’s single in the seventh inning. Zahn struck out eight and walked one.

Polcyn and Nick Kita both went 3-for-4 to lead Ripon’s 17-hit attack.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Lawrence wins North Division, will host MWC Tournament

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team rallied for a Midwest Conference doubleheader split with Carroll University on Saturday at Whiting Field and captured the North Division title in the process.

Lawrence dropped the opener 9-8 in nine innings but won the nightcap 7-3 to take the North Division crown for the first time since 2005.

Lawrence (24-10, 10-4 MWC) will host the four-team MWC Tournament on May 1-2. Carroll (21-15, 9-5) also earned a tournament berth, and Lake Forest College and Cornell College are the South Division representatives.

The Vikings needed to win the nightcap to take the division title, and Lawrence got a superlative pitching effort from Jessica Demski and clutch hitting from Anna Wawiorka.

Demski went the distance, allowed six hits and three runs, all in the first inning. She walked two and didn’t strike out a hitter. Wawiorka went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs, and Katie Schumacher picked up a pair of RBIs.

Carroll grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap, and the Vikings rallied in the fifth inning against Carroll starter Hannah Miller.

Taylor Dodson and Marisa Thackston doubled and singled to start the inning, and Schumacher followed with a single to drive in Dodson and cut the lead to 3-1. After an out, Wawiorka ripped a double to left to score two more, and the game was tied 3-3. After a ground out moved Wawiorka to third, she scored when a throwing error allowed Amanda Jaskolski to reach and the Vikings led 4-3.

The Vikings went right back to work in the sixth and scored three more times. Lawrence loaded the bases on two walks and a fielder’s choice, and Schumacher’s ground out scored a run for a 5-3 lead. Two batters later, Wawiorka’s sharp single scored two more runs, and the Vikings were up 7-3.

Demski did the rest as she did not allow a hit after the first batter in the third inning.

The opener was a wild one as Lawrence built a 4-0 lead, had to rally to tie it in the bottom of the seventh and nearly tied it again in the ninth.

Schumacher, Thackston, Dodson, Kori Looker and Sam Belletini all had two hits for Lawrence, and Schumacher and Looker both drove in two runs.

Lawrence led 4-0 after four innings, but Carroll struck for three runs in the fifth. Kelly Strasser then hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer in the top of the seventh to put Carroll up 5-4.

Lawrence rallied for a run in the bottom half of the inning to tie it at 5-5 when Dodson singled and later scored on Schumacher’ single.

Carroll exploded for four runs in the top of the ninth, but Lawrence rallied again. Belletini led off the inning with a homer, and the Vikings then picked up four consecutive hits, including run-scoring singles from Schumacher and Duffy to cut the lead to 9-8. Wawiorka then flied out to left, and the Pioneers doubled up a runner at second to end the game.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Nine Vikings named to all-conference fencing team

APPLETON, Wis. — Nine Lawrence University fencers have been named to the All-Midwest Fencing Conference team.

Four Lawrence fencers were named to the second team, and five more were given honorable mention.

Leading the way for the Vikings was men’s foil, which had three fencers honored. Freshman Alden Grasse (Milwaukee, Wis.) and sophomore Kai Kramer (Berkeley, Calif.) were both chosen for the second team, and Jacob Hodges (Englewood, Colo.) received honorable mention.

The foil squad grabbed second place the MFC Championships, and the trio of Grasse, Kramer and Hodges all placed at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Grasse took 10th, Kramer was 11th and Hodges placed 12th.

Two members of Lawrence’s sabre contingent, Joe Davis (St. Louis, Mo.) and Graham Jones (Indianapolis, Ind.), both earned second-team honors. Davis and Jones led Lawrence to the sabre title at the MFC Championships. Davis went on to finish sixth at the NCAA Midwest Regional, and Jones placed ninth at the regional.

The Lawrence men placed second overall at the MFC Championships.

On the women’s side, four fencers earned honorable mention. Nicole Mitchell (Gurnee, Ill.) and Lauren Phillips (Pylesville, Md.) of the epee squad and Rebecca Albrecht (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Natalie Hagopian (Madison, Wis.) from the foil team were all chosen.

Phillips was the top finisher among this group as she placed 10th at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Mitchell and Hagopian were both 13th at the regional and Albrecht took 15th.

Led by this group, the Lawrence women were fifth at the MFC Championships.

Vikings take two from Dominican

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University offense exploded in the opener, and the pitching staff allowed just one earned run in the nightcap as the Vikings swept a nonconference doubleheader from Dominican (Ill.) University on Wednesday.

Lawrence took the first game 14-7 and won the nightcap 4-3 at Boomers Stadium.

In the opener, the Vikings (10-17) pounded out 18 hits and jumped on the Stars early.

Tim Kinsella went 3-for-4 and drove in four runs, and Jake Gordon and Matthew Holliday both had three hits for the Vikings. Luke Zablocki, Kyle Duex and Davis Ogilvie all collected a pair of hits for Lawrence.

The Vikings scored four times in the first inning and added five more runs in the second. In the first, Zablocki had a two-run double and Holliday added a run-scoring single. Kinsella had a two-run single in the second and Gordon picked up an RBI single as the Vikings led 9-2.

Dominican (10-22) closed to 9-7, but the Vikings added a run in the third and three more in fifth, including two on Kinsella’s triple.

Freshman Zach Rabideau tossed 2.1 innings of one-hit relief to improve to 2-2 on the season. Philip Clark finished with three innings of one-hit relief to earn his second save of the season.

In the nightcap, four Lawrence pitchers combined to allow just one earned run. Holliday, a freshman from Hong Kong, allowed one hit over two innings to earn his first collegiate victory. Kelton Jenkins allowed an unearned run in the seventh but picked up his third save of the season.

Brandon Klar went 2-for-3, scored two runs and drove in another to pace the Vikings. Kinsella capped his big day by going 2-for-3 and driving in a run.

The Vikings scored in the top of the first when Klar led off the game with a single and later scored on Kinsella’s sacrifice fly. The Stars tied it with a run in the second, but Lawrence took the lead for good in the fifth when Klar was hit by a pitch and later scored on Zablocki’s ground out.

The Vikings stretched the lead to 4-1 with a pair of unearned runs in the sixth. The two-out rally started with Joel Birch’s single, and Ogilvie then reached on an error. Klar singled to score Birch, and Ogilvie came around to score on the play after a bad throw.

Dominican scored an unearned run in the sixth and picked up another in the seventh before Jenkins got Milne Rojek to ground out with the tying run at second to end the game.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Vikings power to doubleheader sweep of St. Norbert

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team smacked three homers, including a grand slam, on the way to sweeping a Midwest Conference doubleheader from St. Norbert College on Wednesday.

Lawrence won the opener 11-4 and took the nightcap 4-1 at Whiting Field.

Savanna Marsicek hit her first career grand slam in the opener that busted the game open on her way to going 2-for-4 with four runs batted in and two runs scored. Sam Belletini went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Vikings, and Taylor Dodson and Tierney Duffy both had two hits.

Lawrence (23-9, 9-3 MWC) scored four times in the first as Dodson and Duffy both picked up run-scoring singled sandwiched around a bases-loaded walk to pitcher Kara Vance. The Vikings added three more runs in the second, including two on Belletini’s double, to take a 7-3 lead.

The Vikings were up 7-4 in the fifth when they loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk. Marsicek then blasted a grand slam into the teeth of a strong wind to give Lawrence an 11-4 lead.

Vance went the distance, allowing nine hits while striking out two and walking two, to pick up the victory.

In the nightcap, Lawrence hit two more homers and got a workmanlike performance from pitcher Liz Barthels to record the sweep.

St. Norbert (11-21, 6-6) scored in the top of the first inning, but Amanda Jaskolski gave the Vikings a 2-1 edge in the bottom half of the inning when she smacked a mammoth two-run homer. Lawrence made it 3-1 in the second when Katie Schumacher belted a solo homer.

Lawrence pulled out to a 4-1 edge when Jaskolski walked to open the third and then scored on Dodson’s single.

Barthels escaped a big jam in the fourth when the Anna Wawiorka threw out Jessica DeMeuse at the plate on a fielder’s choice. Barthels then struck out Brooke Wilson and snared a line drive to end the inning.

Barthels retired 11 of the final 12 hitters she faced. She went the distance, allowed seven hits, struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.

Belletini and Wawiorka both went 2-for-3 in the nightcap for the Vikings.

Lawrence moved into sole possession of first place in the MWC North Division with the sweep, which was the first sweep of the Green Knights since 2005. Lawrence is one game ahead of Carroll University, and the Vikings host the Pioneers in the final conference doubleheader of the season on Saturday.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Schuster takes 12th at Midwest Preview Meet to lead Vikings

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Nigel Schuster finished tied for 12th to lead the Lawrence University golf team at Sunday’s Midwest Conference Preview Meet at Aldeen Golf Club.

Schuster carded a 7-over par 79 on the par-72 layout at Aldeen, which will host the conference championships next month.

Anton Olsson shot 83, Nathan Ley carded an 89 and Ryan Clark shot 90 to round out the scoring for Lawrence.

The Vikings finished sixth with a team score of 341. St. Norbert College won the title with a score of 298.

Results

Carroll takes two from Vikings

APPLETON, Wis. — The Carroll University baseball team got a great pitching performance in game one and then won a nail-biter in the nightcap to sweep a Midwest Conference doubleheader from Lawrence University on Sunday.

Carroll won the first game 15-2, and the Pioneers took the second game 5-3 at Whiting Field.

In the opener, Carroll starter Kevin Dineen went the distance to pick up the win. He allowed only four hits, struck out three and walked two. Lawrence (8-17, 2-10 MWC) got its only two runs of the game on Luke Zablocki’s two-run double in the fifth inning.

Clayton Schmitt, Alex Olson and Joe Huss all had three hits and drove in two runs apiece as the Pioneers (13-15, 6-2) pounded out 16 hits.

In the nightcap, Carroll broke a 3-3 tie with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth inning. Schmitt got that rally started with a one-out double, and Dylan Grove was then hit by a pitch.

The runners took off on a passed ball, but the throw to third was off-target and went into left field. Schmitt scored on the play, and the throw home got away from catcher Travis Weber, allowing Grove to move to third. He then scored on Tyler Schovanec’s single for a 5-3 lead.

Schovanec finished 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs.

Jake Mills got a two-out single in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Zach Wiseman got Brandon Klar to ground out to end the game. Wiseman pitched 1.2 innings of relief for the win.

Jake Gordon went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in the nightcap for Lawrence. Gordon is now just seven hits shy of breaking Lawrence’s career hits record. Klar led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer, and Matthew Holliday had a pair of hits.

Klar’s homer gave Lawrence a 1-0 lead, but Olson homered in the second to tie it. Schovanec’s RBI single in the third gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead, but Lawrence tied it on Gordon’s solo homer in the fifth.

Carroll took the lead back with a run in the top of the eighth, but Gordon doubled and then scored on Holliday’s single in the bottom half of the inning to tie it at 3-3.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Lawrence splits twinbill with Pioneers

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team took the nightcap on Saturday to pick up a Midwest Conference doubleheader split with Carroll University.

Carroll won the opener 9-6, and Lawrence won the second game 10-5 at Frame Park.

In the nightcap, Jake Gordon went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs for the Vikings (8-15, 2-8 MWC). Jake Mills and Matthew Holliday both had two hits, and Brandon Klar, who homered, and Travis Weber drove in two runs apiece.

Philip Clark worked one inning of relief to get the win, and freshman Zach Rabideau tossed three innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first collegiate save.

Weber’s two-run triple in the second inning gave the Vikings a 2-1 edge, and Lawrence started to pull away in the fourth. Lawrence scored four times with the help of three hits, two hit batsmen and a walk. The big hit in the inning was a two-run single by Gordon that gave the Vikings a 6-2 lead.

Carroll (11-15, 4-2) trimmed the lead to 7-5 after six innings, but the Vikings put the game away with three runs in the eighth. Klar got things started with a solo homer to make it 8-5. Holliday then added  a run-scoring single, and Anthony Ortiz had an RBI double to make it 10-5.

In the opener, Carroll broke a 6-6 tie with a run in the bottom of the sixth and went on to the victory. The Pioneers got a run in the sixth on Tyler Schovanec’s single, and Carroll added two more runs in the seventh on Hunter Frey’s two-run homer.

Tyler Robers went six innings to get the win, and Davis Ogilvie took the loss in relief.

Gordon went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs to pace the Vikings. Holliday and Ogilvie both went 2-for-5 for Lawrence, which out-hit the Pioneers 11-10.

The Vikings started the ninth with a pair of singles to bring the tying run to the plate, but Daniel Arden got the final three outs to pick up the save.

Game one box score

Game two box score