Joseph Vanden Acker

Author: Joseph Vanden Acker

Rams edge Lawrence

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Cornell College men’s tennis team edged Lawrence University 5-4 in a Midwest Conference match on Saturday.

The match was derailed by lightning in the area that forced it indoors after the doubles competition.

Lawrence was down 2-1 after the doubles and got an 8-6 win at No. 1 from David Jumes and Sotaro Kurahashi. Lawrence picked up three wins in singles as Jumes at No. 1, Adam Busch at No. 5 and Izaya Turenne at No. 6 were all victorious.

Cornell College 5, Lawrence University 4

Singles competition
1. David Jumes (LU) def. Thomas Weiss (CC) 6-0, 6-2
2. Tucker Barnes (CC) def. Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Ben Williamson (CC) def. Brian DeCorte (LU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Hiro Harada (CC) def. Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
5. Adam Busch (LU) def. Reid Lange (CC) 6-0, 6-2
6. Izaya Turenne (LU) def. Kristian Dale (CC) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. David Jumes/Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) def. Thomas Weiss/Ben Williamson (CC) 8-6
2. Tucker Barnes/Hiro Harada (CC) def. Brian DeCorte/Adam Busch (LU) 9-8 (7-5)
3. Reid Lange/Kristian Dale (CC) def. Ethan Perushek/Ben Tomhave (LU) 8-4

Match Notes:
Lawrence University 11-13 (4-5 MWC)
Cornell College 11-13 (4-4 MWC)

Grinnell tops Lawrence

GRINNELL, Iowa — The Grinnell College men’s tennis team downed Lawrence University 9-0 in a Midwest Conference match on Saturday.

The loss dropped Lawrence back to .500 in the league at 4-4.

Grinnell College 9, Lawrence University 0

Singles competition
1. Elliott Czarnecki (GC) def. David Jumes (LU) 6-2, 6-1
2. Cole Miller (GC) def. Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Emilio Gomez (GC) def. Brian DeCorte (LU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Aaron Lapkin (GC) def. Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Tracy Johnson (GC) def. Adam Busch (LU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Charlie Wilhelm (GC) def. Izaya Turenne (LU) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Elliott Czarnecki/Tommy Pitcher (GC) def. David Jumes/Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) 8-2
2. Emilio Gomez/Tracy Johnson (GC) def. Brian DeCorte/Adam Busch (LU) 8-2
3. Cole Miller/C.J. Ray (GC) def. Ethan Perushek/Ben Tomhave (LU) 8-0

Match Notes:
Lawrence University 10-13, 4-4 MWC
Grinnell College 24-10, 7-0 MWC; Regional ranking #17

Trio of second-place finishes pace Vikings at St. Norbert Invitational

DE PERE, Wis. — Anna Bolgrien, Erin Schrobilgen and Cam Davies all grabbed second-place finishes on Saturday to lead the Lawrence University track team at the St. Norbert Invitational.

Bolgrien took second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.93, and Schrobilgen led Lawrence’s strong contingent in the 5,000 meters. Schrobilgen took second in 19:28.02 and was followed by Clare Bruning in third, Margaret Huck in fourth and Kristen Bischel in fifth.

Lawrence also had a pair of top finishers in the 1,500, as Kate Kilgus took third in 5:19.43 and Noelle Hele was fourth in 5:21.24.

Genna Matt broke her own school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 140 feet, 10 inches. She set the previous mark of 135-5 at the 2014 Midwest Conference Championships.

The Lawrence women placed sixth in the team standings with 61.5 points.

Davies led the Lawrence men as he grabbed second in the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:53.32. Max Edwards raced to third place in the 5,000 in 16:08.95.

The Lawrence men were seventh with 47 points.

Results

Schuster, Olsson lead Vikings at Lawrence Invitational

GREENVILLE, Wis. — Nigel Schuster fired a 78 and Anton Olsson came in at 79 to lead the Lawrence University golf team at Saturday’s Lawrence Invitational.

Schuster grabbed fifth place with his 6-over par score on the par-72 layout at Eagle Creek Golf Club. Olsson’s 7-over par round was good for a tie for sixth place.

Also scoring for the Vikings were Nathan Ley (93) and Ryan Clark (94). Lawrence’s Austin Frank, playing as an individual, shot 89. Lawrence finished with a team score of 344.

St. Norbert College won the event with a score of 311, and Carroll University’s Henry Mulvey was the medalist with a 74.

Results

Vikings sweep doubleheader from Viterbo

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team got a walk-off win in the opener and then romped to a win in the nightcap to sweep a nonconference doubleheader from Viterbo University on Friday at Whiting Field.

Lawrence took the first game 3-2 and won the nightcap 10-2.

In the opener, Amanda Jaskolski went 3-for-4 and drove in all three runs for Lawrence (21-9), and Tierney Duffy went 3-for-3 and scored all three runs.

Liz Barthels went the distance for the Vikings, allowed eight hits, struck out three and walked none to pick up the victory.

Lawrence rallied from a pair of one-run deficits to get the win. Duffy singled in the third and later scored on Jaskolski’s single to tie the game at 1-1. Duffy started the fifth with a bunt single and later scored Jaskolski’s single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.

Duffy then started the bottom of the seventh with an infield single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, Jaskolski belted a double to center field to score Duffy with the game-winner.

In the nightcap, the Vikings were down 2-0 on a pair of solo homers by Viterbo (4-29). Jaskolski cut the lead in half when she led off the fourth with a solo homer, her 10th of the season.

Lawrence then exploded for eight runs in the fifth to take a 9-2 lead. Marisa Thackston started the inning with a double and the Vikings finished with seven hits in the frame. Sam Belletini had a two-run double, Jessica Demski blasted a solo homer, Kori Looker had a run-scoring double and both Jaskolski and Taylor Dodson had RBI singles.

Lawrence ended the game on the eight-run rule in the sixth when Savanna Marsicek walked to start the inning and later scored on Looker’s single.

Jaskolski, Belletini and Looker all went 2-for-4 and all drove in two runs apiece. Dodson went 2-for-3 and drove in a run.

Demski went the distance to get the victory. She allowed four hits, struck out one and walked none.

The 21 wins matches Lawrence’s highest season victory total since the Vikings picked up 31 wins back in 1999. Lawrence also won 21 games in 2013. Lawrence has a minimum of six games remaining this season.

Game one box score

Game two box score

 

Vikings power to doubleheader sweep of Ripon

RIPON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team powered its way to a Midwest Conference doubleheader sweep of Ripon College on Thursday.

Lawrence won the opener 10-7, and the Vikings took the nightcap 8-0 at Tracy Field.

In the first game, Lawrence (19-9, 7-3 MWC) hit two homers and three doubles as part of its 16-hit attack.

Freshman Kori Looker homered and finished 4-for-4 with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Junior Katie Schumacher hit her first homer of the season and doubled on her way to going 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

Amanda Jaskolski and pitcher Kara Vance both went 2-for-4 and Vance drove in a pair of runs for the Vikings. Vance went 6.2 innings to pick up the win. Liz Barthels got the final out for her first save of the season.

Lawrence jumped on Ripon (5-22, 2-10) by scoring five runs in the first inning and two more in the second. Vance and Schumacher both had two-run singles in the first inning, and Looker had a run-scoring single in the second.

Ripon trimmed the lead to 7-5 with five runs in the bottom of the second, but Lawrence pulled away with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth. Looker belted a solo homer in the fourth, and Schumacher ripped a solo shot in the sixth.

Ripon scored a pair of runs with two outs in the seventh and had the bases loaded when Barthels got a pop up to end the game.

In the nightcap, Barthels tossed a five-hitter for her second shutout of the season. She struck out three and walked two and did not allow a runner past second base.

Jaskolski went 3-for-3 with a homer and a double, drove in five runs and scored two. Schumacher, Looker and Tierney Duffy all went 2-for-4 as the Vikings rapped out 12 hits.

Jaskolski had a run-scoring double to give Lawrence a 1-0 lead in the first, and Looker’s RBI double made it 2-0 in the fourth. The Vikings made it 4-0 in the fifth when Jaskolski’s two-out, two-run single scored Duffy and Marisa Thackston.

Lawrence sealed the win with four runs in the seventh with the big blow coming on Jaskolski’s two-run homer, her ninth round-tripper of the season.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Inside LU Athletics: Gordon works his way to the top

Lawrence's Jake Gordon is putting together another stellar season and is currently hitting .392.
Lawrence’s Jake Gordon is putting together another stellar season and is currently hitting .392.

APPLETON, Wis. — We’ve all heard the lecture about the value of hard work. We nod our heads in agreement at our parents or teachers or coaches, but that doesn’t mean we immediately put the nose to the grindstone.

Consider Lawrence University baseball star Jake Gordon a convert to the church of sweat, exhaustion and perseverance. With his work ethic pointing the way, Gordon has mixed in natural ability to put together stellar junior and senior seasons.

“Jake won every single award last year because of his work ethic,” Lawrence coach Jason Anderson said. “You have a lot of talent and add the work ethic, you break the school record for hits in a season and possibly the career hits record, that’s the example.”

Gordon hit .400 last season and broke Lawrence’s season hits record with 54 in just 33 games. He is hitting .392 this season with six doubles, four triples, two homers, 22 runs scored and 16 runs batted in.

Gordon now has 140 hits for his career, just 15 shy of breaking Andrew Wong’s school record of 154.

“The No. 1 goal (for this season), obviously, was to win,” Gordon said. “All the individual accolades were nice last year, but I came into this year wanting to win and make the conference tournament.”

The Vikings have struggled out of the gate in Midwest Conference play, but that hasn’t slowed Gordon’s assault on the Lawrence record book. Gordon is likely to be in Lawrence’s top five in career hits, runs scored, doubles and triples.

“The No. 2 goal was to improve any way I could,” Gordon said. “I thought last year was special, but I didn’t expect to come into this year and duplicate that.”

In addition to being an All-Midwest Conference selection last season, Gordon was chosen for the D3baseball.com All-Central Region team and the Jewish Sports Review All-America squad.

While Gordon is now an elite player in NCAA Division III, he was at a crossroads after his sophomore season. After hitting .337 as a freshman in 2012, Gordon slumped to .222 in 2013, and he knew why.

“That’s one of the things about my sophomore year, it kind of motivated me,” Gordon said. “I came in and played pretty well my freshman year but didn’t put in that kind of work I needed to.”

Gordon said he and Anderson had a long talk after that season.

“He said, ‘Don’t ever regret your baseball career,’ and I regretted my sophomore year and not putting in enough work,” Gordon said. “That motivated me, and it continues to motivate me every day.”

With the hard work paying off for Gordon, it is evident that other members of the Vikings have taken notice. With nine freshmen on the team, including starters Matthew Holliday, Jake Mills, Anthony Ortiz and Travis Weber, Gordon hopes to have an impact on Lawrence’s stars of the future.

“A lot of the freshmen have taken my example and run with it,” Gordon said. “They are in the weight room and working hard to get better. This is one of the best group of guys we’ve had in terms of work ethic. I hope it’s because of my example, but it’s a good group of guys.”

Anderson said he knew Gordon had ability, but it has been his workmanlike attitude that has made the difference between good and great.

“I knew he could be this good. What I didn’t know was just how hard he was going to work at it,” Anderson said.

“If you want to be successful, you have to do the work consistently. To have Jake on the team who is doing it consistently is a big help. The freshmen have to either follow along or get left behind.”

Titans top Lawrence

APPLETON, Wis. — The UW-Oshkosh men’s tennis team topped Lawrence University 7-2 in a nonconference match on Wednesday at the Lawrence Courts.

The Titans took control of the match early by sweeping the three doubles contests. Lawrence picked up a pair of wins in singles as Sotaro Kurahashi posted a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 and Brian DeCorte was a 6-3, 6-1 winner at No. 3.

Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Grinnell and Cornell to wrap up Midwest Conference play.

UW-Oshkosh 7, Lawrence University 2

Singles competition
1. Mike Gillespie (UWO) def. David Jumes (LU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) def. Aidan Sauberlich (UWO) 6-4, 6-2
3. Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Adam Martin (UWO) 6-3, 6-1
4. Logan Zastrow (UWO) def. Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-6)
5. David Leffler (UWO) def. Adam Busch (LU) 6-3, 6-1
6. David LaGrange (UWO) def. Izaya Turenne (LU) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Mike Gillespie/Aidan Sauberlich (UWO) def. David Jumes/Sotaro Kurahashi (LU) 8-0
2. Adam Martin/Vincent Gorski (UWO) def. Brian DeCorte/Adam Busch (LU) 8-2
3. Logan Zastrow/David LaGrange (UWO) def. Ben Tomhave/Ethan Perushek (LU) 8-0

Match Notes:
UW-Oshkosh 6-11
Lawrence University 10-12
T-2:30 A-43

Vikings pick up doubleheader split with Pointers

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team jumped on UW-Stevens Point early in the nightcap and went on to a nonconference doubleheader split with the Pointers on Tuesday at Whiting Field.

Lawrence took the second game 6-3, and Stevens Point won the opener 5-1.

In the second game, Lawrence (17-9) got several key hits and a standout pitching performance from Liz Barthels. Anna Wawiorka went 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs batted in to pace the Lawrence offense. Barthels went the distance, allowed eight hits and three runs, all in the seventh, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.

The Vikings jumped on Stevens Point starter Bre Ellison for three runs in the bottom of the first. Sam Belletini smacked a run-scoring single, another run scored on a wild pitch and Kori Looker delivered another run-scoring single for a 3-0 lead.

The Vikings added two more runs in the fourth when Wawiorka belted a two-run triple to score Marisa Thackston and Tierney Duffy for a 5-0 lead. Lawrence added an insurance run in the fifth when Amanda Jaskolski doubled and later scored on Taylor Dodson’s double.

Stevens Point (9-18) made it interesting in the seventh by scoring three runs on four hits. The Pointers had the tying run at the plate with two outs, but Paige Allen’s soft line drive was caught by Jaskolski to end the game.

In the opener, Stevens Point starter Miranda Morrison limited Lawrence to four hits over seven innings. She struck out six and walked one.

The Pointers had 12 hits and scored twice in the third and twice in the fifth. Jordon Schreiner went 3-for-4, homered and drove in two runs.

Belletini collected two of Lawrence’s four hits in the opener.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Belletini’s big bat garners MWC Player of the Week honor

Sam Belletini
Sam Belletini

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University softball standout Sam Belletini was named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week.

A sophomore catcher, Belletini (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) hit .591 and pounded out seven extra-base hits at the Midwest Conference Classic to lead Lawrence to a 4-2 mark against the South Division.

Belletini went 13-for-24 with four doubles, three homers, nine runs batted in and seven runs scored. She compiled a 1.182 slugging percentage and .609 on-base percentage for a 1.791 OPS.

Belletini’s biggest game of the weekend was a 4-for-5 performance against Grinnell College that featured three doubles, a homer and five RBIs.

Belletini is now hitting .342 on the season with seven doubles, three homers and 14 RBIs.

This marks the third consecutive week Lawrence has won a weekly honor from the conference. Tierney Duffy (North Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) was the Player of the Week on April 6, and Kara Vance (Racine, Wis./Park) was Pitcher of the Week on March 30.

Lawrence returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts UW-Stevens Point in a nonconference doubleheader at Whiting Field.