Joseph Vanden Acker

JANESVILLE, Wis. — Liz Barthels tossed a three-hit shutout Friday as the Lawrence University softball team topped Knox College 7-0 at the Midwest Conference Classic.

Barthels allowed only a bunt single, one more single and a double over seven innings. She struck out five and did not walk a batter to improve to 6-4 on the season.

Katie Schumacher and Amanda Jaskolski both went 2-for-3 for the Vikings (14-6, 3-1 MWC) with Schumacher driving in two runs and Jaskolski scoring twice. Sam Belletini went 2-for-4 and drove in a run, and Jessica Demski belted a pinch-hit, three-run double for Lawrence.

The game was scoreless until Lawrence plated four runs in the fifth. Savanna Marsicek started the rally with a walk and Jaskolski followed with a double. After a wild pitch scored Marsicek, Belletini had a run-scoring single and Schumacher provided a two-run single to put the Vikings up 4-0.

Lawrence added three more runs in the sixth courtesy of Demski. The Vikings loaded the bases on two walks and a single, and Demski then drove it to the wall in right-center to clear the bases and put Lawrence up 7-0.

Lawrence returns to action in Janesville on Saturday with games against Illinois College and Monmouth College.

Box score

JANESVILLE, Wis. — Lawrence University catcher Sam Belletini powered the Vikings to a 17-4 victory over Grinnell College on Friday in the opening game of the Midwest Conference Classic.

Belletini went 4-for-5 with three doubles and a home run and drove in five runs and scored three runs.

Amanda Jaskolski, Anna Wawiorka and Tierney Duffy all went 3-for-4 as the Vikings pounded out 20 hits. Jaskolski and Wawiorka both drove in three runs, and Wawiorka and Duffy scored three runs apiece.

Kara Vance went the distance to pick up the win for Lawrence (13-6, 3-1 MWC). She allowed nine hits, struck out two and walked one.

Lawrence scored single runs in each of the first five innings, with Belletini leading off the second with her first homer of the season.

The Vikings broke the game wide open in the sixth when they scored four times. The big hit in the inning was Belletini’s two-run double.

Lawrence then sent 12 hitters to the plate in the seventh and scored eight times. Jessica Demski blasted a three-run homer in the inning, and Wawiorka and Belletini both had two-run doubles.

Box score

APPLETON, Wis. — To describe Amanda Jaskolski’s first home run on Tuesday, think of the movie Major League and play-by-play announcer Harry Doyle.

“Jaskolski swings and crushes one toward South America. Argenzio is gonna need a visa to catch this one. It is out of here, and there is nothing left but a vapor trail.”

In Tuesday’s opening game of Lawrence’s doubleheader sweep at Mount Mary University, Jaskolski hit two home runs, the first one being a mammoth blast out of Kulwicki Park. The senior shortstop from Shawano, Wis., now has seven round-trippers in what is becoming a banner season.

“Home runs are never in the mindset for me,” said Jaskolski, who leads the Midwest Conference in home runs. “They just happen when they do.”

They’ve been happening a lot as Lawrence has built a 12-6 record with just under half the season left. Jaskolski is second in the conference in hitting with a .453 batting average and leads the league with a .925 slugging percentage. Her 20 runs batted in (in 18 games) is good for second in the conference.

“In the time I’ve coached softball, she’s one of the top kids I’ve had the pleasure of having in our program,” said Lawrence coach Kim Tatro, who is in her 22nd season with the Vikings.

“Jazz (Jaskolski’s nickname) is the complete package offensively and defensively. She’s very competitive and very humble. When you put all of those characteristics together, you have a very special player.”

The 2014 Midwest Conference North Division Player of the Year, Jaskolski is putting up impressive numbers despite the fact that every opposing pitcher knows who she is and how good she is.

“That’s my struggle this year. Last year I came in as a junior and nobody really knew how to pitch to me. I liked that last year. I could get a lot of pitches in the zone,” Jaskolski said.

“I have to be more patient. I love to hit. I don’t like to be walked, but with age and experience, I see that getting a walk will help the team in the long run.”

Jaskolski leads the league with 16 walks and is tops in the conference with a .580 on-base percentage.

“Her swing is smooth and thorough and she’s very patient,” Tatro said. “Teams pitch around her, and when they don’t, they pay the price.”

It’s been tough to pitch around Jaskolski, who hits third in the lineup, because Tierney Duffy, Anna Wawiorka and Savanna Marsicek have been getting on base ahead of her. Forced to pitch to Jaskolski, the result is she ranks fourth in all of NCAA Division III at .39 home runs per game.

“That’s definitely not my mindset when I get up there,” Jaskolski said of hitting homers. “It’s really to be patient and just get a good pitch to hit.”

If Lawrence is to make a push to make the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament, the Vikings will need that continued hot bat from Jaskolski. Lawrence, which plays in the MWC Classic this weekend in Janesville, Wis., is looking for a third straight trip to the conference tournament.

“If we can get our team back (to the MWC Tournament) and do better than we did last year, that is better in my eyes than being the conference player of the year,” Jaskolski said.

GREENFIELD, Wis. — Amanda Jaskolski homered twice in the opener and Savanna Marsicek collected four hits in the nightcap as the Lawrence University softball team swept a nonconference doubleheader from Mount Mary University on Tuesday.

Lawrence won the first game 11-0, and the Vikings took the second game 13-1 at Kulwicki Park.

Jaskolski went 3-for-4 with a pair of two-run homers, drove in four runs and scored three times to pace Lawrence (12-6) in the opener. Marsicek went 3-for-4, drove in two runs and scored two runs, and Anna Wawiorka went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and scored two runs.

Kara Vance tossed a four-hit shutout for the Vikings. She went the distance, struck out three and walked one.

Jaskolski belted a two-run homer in the first, and Lawrence scored five times in the second with the help of run-scoring doubles from Marsicek and Wawiorka. Lawrence added four more runs in the third, with two coming on another Jaskolski homer.

In the nightcap, Lawrence pounded out 14 hits in five innings, and freshman Kori Looker belted her first career homer.

Marsicek went 4-for-4, scored three runs and drove in a pair for the Vikings. Katie Schumacher went 2-for-3 and pitcher Jessica Demski was 2-for-4. Demski went the distance, allowed seven hits, struck out one and did not walk a batter.

Lawrence broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the third. The Vikings added four more runs in the fourth as Wawiorka picked up a run-scoring triple and Marsicek added an RBI double.

Mount Mary (3-17) got on the board to make it 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth, but the Vikings scored seven times in the top of the fifth to pull away. Looker had the big hit in the inning as she blasted a three-run homer.

Lawrence returns to action on Friday when it travels to the Midwest Conference Classic.

Game one box score

Game two box score

APPLETON, Wis. — Lawrence University softball standout Tierney Duffy rode a hot bat to earn Midwest Conference Player of the Week honors.

Duffy (North Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) hit .750 for the week as Lawrence split a pair of doubleheaders.

A junior outfielder, Duffy went 9-for-12, scored a team-best five runs and drove in a pair of runs for the Vikings.

Duffy went 2-for-3 in both games against the University of Chicago this past Friday. She also went 2-for-2 on stolen bases against the Maroons as the Vikings won 6-2 and dropped a 5-4 decision.

Duffy went 2-for-3 in the Midwest Conference opener against Beloit College on Saturday and drove in two runs, and then went 3-for-3 and scored a pair of runs in the nightcap. Beloit rallied to win the opener 5-4, and Lawrence took the nightcap 4-3.

Duffy, who was chosen for the weekly honor for the first time in her career, improved to a team-best .478 batting average on the season. The Vikings also took a weekly award last week as Kara Vance (Racine, Wis./Park) was named MWC Pitcher of the Week.

The Vikings return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Mount Mary University.

BELOIT, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team nearly took a pair of Midwest Conference games at Beloit College on Saturday, but the Vikings had to settle for a split.

Beloit rallied to win the opener 5-4, and Lawrence won the nightcap 4-3.

In the nightcap, Savanna Marsicek went 2-for-5 and drove in four runs, and Tierney Duffy was 3-for-3 and scored a pair of runs for Lawrence (10-6, 1-1 MWC).

Pitcher Liz Barthels, who went 2-for-3, allowed seven hits and three runs in seven innings to pick up the win. She struck out four and walked one.

Lawrence grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth courtesy of Marsicek’s three-run double. Beloit cut the margin to 3-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Lawrence got an insurance run that it needed on Marsicek’s run-scoring triple in the top of the seventh for a 4-2 edge. Barthels gave up a lead-off homer in the bottom of the inning, but then retired the next three in order to seal the win.

In the opener, Beloit (7-13, 1-1) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to break a 4-4 tie.

Duffy had a run-scoring single in the top of the second to tie it at 1-1, and Anna Wawiorka followed with a two-run triple to put the Vikings up 3-1.

Lawrence made it 4-1 when Duffy singled to score Belletini, who had doubled, in the fourth. Beloit tied it with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, with two runs coming on Jordyn Ciochon’s homer.

Belletini finished 3-for-3 and scored two runs, and Duffy went 2-for-3 and drove in a pair.

Kara Vance went the distance and took the loss. She allowed 10 hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter.

Game one box score

Game two box score