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Murray fires no-hitter as Vikings blank Grinnell

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — Lawrence University’s Shannon Murray fired a no-hitter in a 12-0 win over Grinnell College on Saturday in the opening game of the Midwest Conference Classic.

Murray struck out seven and did not walk a batter in the five-inning contest. It was the second career no-hitter for the junior from Lawrenceville, Ga., who also tossed a no-hitter in a 10-0 win over Alverno College on April 1, 2010. This is the third no-hitter in Lawrence history.

Murray allowed only two runners in the contest. She hit a batter in the first, and the Pioneers had a runner reach base on an error in the fourth.

Murray, Cathy Kaye and Coley LaChance all had two hits for the Vikings. Alex Chiodo drove in a game-high three runs for the Vikings and Murray drove in a pair.

Murray got all the offense she would need when the Vikings scored three times in the first. Kaye led off the inning with a homer, Murray had a run-scoring double and Alissa Geipel added a run-scoring single in the frame.

Lawrence added a run in the second and then scored eight times in the bottom of the fourth. The big hit in the inning was Chiodo’s three-run, bases-loaded triple.

Box score

Larson breaks season wins mark in shutout of Concordia

Lawrence University women’s tennis star Beth Larson broke one school record on Saturday, and the Vikings tied another in a 9-0 nonconference victory over Concordia (Wis.) University on Saturday at the Lawrence Courts.

Larson, Lawrence’s No. 1 singles player, beat Concordia’s Meagan Harrington 6-3, 6-2, to record her 22nd victory of the season. That breaks the record of 21 set by Linda Tomtshak in 1985.

Larson, who broke Lawrence’s career wins record last month, also teamed with Christina Schaupp for an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles.

Lawrence (13-7) picked up its 13th dual meet victory of the season and that ties the mark set by the Vikings in 2005 and 2008.

Box score

Vikings sweep doubleheader from MSOE

The Lawrence University baseball team got solid pitching and used an opportunistic offense to record a nonconference doubleheader sweep from the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Wednesday at Whiting Field.

Lawrence (6-12) won the opener 8-5 and took the nightcap 6-4.

In the opener, Gabe Henriques went 3-for-3 and Tanner DeBettencourt drove in three runs for the Vikings. Joel Birch went 2-for-4, and Birch and Eric Bohling drove in two runs apiece.

Freshman pitcher Kelton Jenkins made the start and picked up his first career victory. Jenkins pitched six innings, allowed six hits, struck out two and walked four. Freshman Atley Gay worked out of a jam in the seventh to record his first career save.

Lawrence jumped on MSOE (3-21) by scoring five times in the bottom of the first. Lawrence had four hits in the inning but took advantage of two big MSOE errors. Birch had a run-scoring single to start the scoring, but the big blow was DeBettencourt’s three-run bases-clearing double.

Lawrence led 6-1 when Michael Ricciardi hit a grand slam in the fifth to slice the lead to 6-5.

The Vikings came right back and scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. MSOE had another error to start that inning, and the Vikings made the Raiders pay again. Bohling had a run-scoring groundout, and Birch had another run-scoring single to push the lead to 8-5. Both of the runs in that inning were unearned.

Gay hit a batter and gave up a single in the seventh, but he got Ricciardi to hit into a fielder’s choice and then induced Adam Vlaj to fly out to end the game.

In the nightcap, Henriques went 2-for-2, scored three runs and drove in a pair to pace the Lawrence offense. Davide Harris went 2-for-4 and scored a pair of run for the Vikings. Bohling had one hit in the nightcap and drove in three runs.

Freshman pitcher Andrew Doares made the start and picked up his first career win. Doares went 5 1/3 innings, allowed nine hits, struck out one and walked one. Alex Brewer got the final five outs for his second save of the season.

Lawrence jumped on the Raiders for a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Harris singled and Henriques walked to start the frame, and both runners moved up on a double steal. A throwing error on the play allowed Harris to score, and Henriques came in on Bohling’s sacrifice fly.

Lawrence made it 4-0 in the third, and it was Harris and Henriques who got the rally going again. Harris got a one-out single, and Henriques followed with a triple to make it 3-0. Henriques then scored on Bohling’s groundout for a 4-0 lead.

MSOE cut the lead in half with two runs in the top of the fifth, but the Vikings struck for two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Jake Gordon walked to start the inning, and he scored on Henriques’ double to push the lead to 5-2. Bohling followed with a double in the left field corner to score Henriques and put the Vikings up 6-4.

MSOE added two more runs in the sixth, but Brewer came on to strike out Walter Ziller and got James Heinritz to hit into a fielder’s choice to limit the damage. Brewer then worked a perfect seventh to complete the save.

Lawrence returns to action with four nonconference games at Finlandia University on Saturday and Sunday.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Dunn earns MWC Player of the Week honor

Lawrence University men’s tennis star Jason Dunn has been named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week.

Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) posted a 2-0 record on the week at No. 1 singles as the Vikings split a pair of matches.

Dunn defeated UW-Whitewater’s Byron Balkin 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) in Lawrence’s 8-1 loss to the Warhawks. Dunn also rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Rock Valley College’s John Rolando. Dunn also teamed with Max Zlevor for a No. 1 doubles victory in Lawrence’s 9-0 win over Rock Valley.

Dunn improved to 10-9 in singles on the season.

Lawrence (7-10) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Grinnell College, and the Vikings open Midwest Conference North Division play on Sunday at Ripon College.

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings take a step forward on diamond

Splitting a four-game series to open the Midwest Conference baseball season may seem like equal parts satisfaction and disappointment.

It would be tough to blame Lawrence University is they were feeling more satisfied than disappointed with going 2-2 against Ripon College.

It marked the first time since 2000 that the Vikings won more than one game during a season against the Red Hawks, and Lawrence (4-12, 2-2 MWC) now has more conference wins and more total wins in 2012 than it had all of last season.

“That is a big step forward,” Lawrence coach Jason Anderson said. “To split with the defending conference champions, looking at it a few days later, we’re pretty pleased with getting a split.

“We were happy but we weren’t satisfied. There was a pretty big level of disappointment because we felt like we missed (winning the final game of the series). That really shows that we’re maturing. The level of expectation for each other has gone up a lot and that’s nice to see.”

Anderson is in his fourth season with the Vikings, and in many ways he was rebuilding the program. The Vikings hadn’t had a full recruiting class for two seasons when Anderson took over in 2009, and this year’s squad is still dominated by underclassmen.

“Almost everyone who played last year was a freshman or a sophomore. We were very inconsistent as individuals. One or two guys having a bad day doesn’t allow you to win baseball games,” Anderson said.

“That level of consistency with guys who have played a year or two of college baseball has gone up.”

The Vikings are regularly starting their one senior, third baseman/pitcher Eric Bohling, juniors Davide Harris, Gabe Henriques, Phil Wisniewski and Alex Brewer, sophomores Sam Kossow and Darvis PridGeon and freshmen Joel Birch and Jake Gordon.

Bohling is leading the team in hitting at .358 and Harris is close behind at .355. Henriques is next at .344 and leads the team with 13 runs batted in. Wisniewski is at .340 and has a team-best eight doubles.

The biggest issue in 2011’s 3-32 season was pitching. The pitching staff is larger this season and it is freshmen Drew Doares, Davis Ogilvie, Kelton Jenkins and Atley Gay that are spearheading this group.

“Our freshmen are pitching pretty close to their potential, but it takes some adjustment to pitch at the college level,” Anderson said. “You can’t always get a guy out with the fastball so you have to have something else in your pocket there.

“We have cut our ERA almost in half because we’re throwing more strikes. Our biggest disappointment this year has been our defense. We need to throw even more strikes and get better on defense to keep improving.”

With the solid start to the Midwest Conference season in hand, Lawrence has six nonconference games before resuming league play against Beloit on April 21. Anderson believes this stretch of games allows the Vikings to get some more experience on the mound and solve some defensive issues.

“We’re in a good spot right now, but we need to get better,” Anderson said. “We’re in a spot where we’re not behind the eight ball (to start the conference season). If we throw strikes and take care of the baseball, we can play with anyone.”

Henriques ranked

Henriques, a junior infielder from Chicago, is ranked in the top 25 nationally in a pair of statistical categories. Henriques is tied for 24th at 0.19 triples per game, and he is tied for 25th in toughest to strike out. Henriques has struck out only twice in 64 at-bats this season.

Dunn wins MWC honor

Lawrence men’s tennis standout Jason Dunn was named the Midwest Conference Player of the Week. Dunn, a Fond du Lac native, went 2-0 on the week at No. 1 singles as Lawrence split a pair of matches.

Dunn beat UW-Whitewater’s Byron Balkin 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) and then pounded John Rolando of Rock Valley 6-0, 6-3. Dunn, who improved his season singles record to 10-9, also split a pair of No. 1 doubles matches with partner Max Zlevor.

Closing in on 300

Lawrence softball coach Kim Tatro has a chance to hit 300 career victories this week. Tatro, in her 19th season at Lawrence, has a career record of 296-270-1.

Tatro is a six-time Midwest Conference North Division Coach of the Year and has won more games (387, 296 in softball, 91 in volleyball) than any coach in Lawrence history. She coached the Vikings to MWC championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Lawrence plays at St. Norbert on Wednesday before traveling to the Midwest Conference Classic in Waukegan, Ill., for five games against the South Division on Saturday and Sunday.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

Vikings post doubleheader split at Ripon

RIPON, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team took the opener on Saturday at Ripon College, and the Red Hawks rallied late to secure a split of the Midwest Conference doubleheader at Francis Field.

Lawrence (4-12, 2-2 MWC) won the first game 8-7, and Ripon (10-8, 2-2) took the nightcap 16-8.

In the opener, Davide Harris, Gabe Henriques, Joel Birch, Phil Wisniewski and Darvis PridGeon all had two hits for the Vikings. Birch drove in three runs, and Harris and Henriques drove in two runs apiece.

Phil Clark won the game in relief of starter Davis Ogilvie, and Alex Brewer pitched the final two innings for his first save of the season. Zach Lauterbach lasted only 3 1/3 innings and took the loss.

Lawrence jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Eric Bohling and Birch both delivered run-scoring singles. Lawrence made it 4-0 in the top of the second when Harris delivered a run-scoring triple, and Henriques followed with a RBI single.

Ripon cut the lead to 4-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Lawrence then struck for four runs in the top of the fourth. Harris and Henriques both had run-scoring singles, and Birch later came through with a two-run single to give Lawrence an 8-2 lead.

Ripon scored twice in its half of the fourth and two more times in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-6. The Red Hawks scored a run in the eighth to cut the lead to 8-7, but Henriques threw another runner out at the plate to preserve the advantage. Brewer then retired the side in order in the ninth for the save.

In the nightcap, Eric Schumacher went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs to pace Ripon, and Kyle Bosquez was 3-for-4, scored five runs and drove in three.

Tyler Ketz picked up the win by throwing seven innings of relief. Starter T.J. Pierce walked six batters in the first two-plus innings before he was replaced. Clark took the loss in relief for Lawrence.

Harris and Jake Gordon both went 2-for-4 to pace Lawrence’s offense.

Ripon led 4-0 after the opening inning, but Lawrence battled back with two runs in the second, including one on Gordon’s run-scoring single. Lawrence then scored three times in the third without a hit to tie the game at 5-5. Ripon walked four batters in the inning and uncorked a wild pitch.

Ripon grabbed the lead back with two runs in the fifth, but Lawrence scored twice in the top of the sixth with a RBI double from Harris to tie it at 7-7. Ripon countered with two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Lawrence cut the lead to 9-8 on Bohling’s sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth.

Ripon then exploded for seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the eighth to finally put the game away.

Game one box score

Game two box score

 

Bohling’s big hit lifts Vikings to doubleheader split against Ripon

Eric Bohling’s dramatic two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning rallied the Lawrence University baseball team to a Midwest Conference doubleheader split with Ripon College on Thursday at Whiting Field.

Bohling’s heroics gave Lawrence (3-11, 1-1 MWC) a 5-4 win in the nightcap, and Ripon  (9-7, 1-1) posted an 18-5 victory in the opener.

Bohling went 4-for-5 and drove in four runs in the nightcap. Gabe Henriques went 2-for-4 and scored two runs for the Vikings.

Alex Brewer got the final two outs in the ninth to improve to 2-0 on the season. Patrick Van Daalwyk went three innings and took the loss.

Bohling had a run-scoring single and Sam Kossow picked up a sacrifice fly to give Lawrence a 2-0 lead in the first. Ripon tied it with two runs in the third and then grabbed a 4-2 lead with a pair of runs in the fifth.

Lawrence trimmed the lead to 4-3 with a run in the seventh. Bohling dropped in a single down the right field line to scoring Jake Gordon to cut the Ripon lead to one.

The score stayed that way when Davide Harris walked and Henriques followed with a double to put runners at second and third to start the bottom of the ninth inning. Ripon brought in Tom Fish to face Bohling, who belted a double into the right-center field gap that scored both runners and won the game.

Freshman Kelton Jenkins made the start for Lawrence and turned in a fine effort. He went seven innings, allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked one.

In the opener, Ripon broke open a tie game with 10 runs over the fifth and sixth innings.

Ryan Paul went 4-for-4, hit a grand slam in the ninth inning and finished with seven runs batted in to pace Ripon’s 16-hit attack. Tom Sawyer went 3-for-3, scored five times and drove in three runs.

Steven Blader went eight innings, allowed nine hits, struck out seven and walked two to earn the victory. Andrew Doares went 4 1/3 innings and took the loss for the Vikings.

Henriques, Brewer and Phil Wisniewski all had two hits for the Vikings, and Brewer drove in a pair of runs.

The game was tied 2-2 when Ripon scored six times in the fifth with Sawyer picking up a two-run double in the inning. The Red Hawks then added four more runs in the sixth to go up 12-2. Paul had a two-run double in that inning.

Ripon then put the finishing touches on the win when Paul hit a grand slam in the four-run ninth.

Game one box score

Game two box score

Vikings shut out Alverno to record doubleheader split

Liz Barthels tossed a shutout in game two, and the Lawrence University softball team split a nonconference doubleheader with Alverno College on Thursday at Whiting Field.

Barthels, a freshman pitcher, allowed only three hits as Lawrence (5-9) defeated Alverno (7-11) 9-0 in the nightcap. A Lawrence rally fell short as Alverno won the opener 6-4.

In the nightcap, Barthels picked up her first collegiate win and shutout. He struck out one and walked two.

Alissa Geipel, Shannon Murray, Kara Vance and Coley LaChance all had two hits for the Vikings in the nightcap.

Barthels got all the offense she would need when Lawrence scored twice in the bottom of the first. Cathy Kaye and Geipel both singled in the inning and later scored on an error on Murray’s ground ball.

Lawrence padded the lead with four runs in the third. The Vikings had three hits in the inning, including LaChance’s run-scoring single, and also benefitted from a pair of Alverno errors.

Lawrence then put the game away with three more runs in the fourth. Mary Diduch had a two-run single, and Brielle Bartes added a run-scoring groundout to give the Vikings a 9-0 lead.

In the opener, Alverno built a 6-0 lead and then had to hang on for the victory in the seventh.

Diduch and Bartes had back-to-back singles to start the rally in the seventh. LaChance followed with a run-scoring single to trim the lead to 6-1. After the inning’s second out, Kaye blasted a three-run homer to cut the lead to 6-4.

Alex Chiodo followed with a double, and Geipel was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base. Murray then grounded out to end the game.

Murray went the distance and took the loss for Lawrence. She allowed 11 hits, struck out six and walked three. Erin Dulek pitched 6 2/3 innings and picked up the win. Jamie Villalobos got the final out for her first save of the season.

Game one box score

Game two box score

 

Lawrence doubles up Prairie Fire

GALESBURG, Ill. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team topped Knox College 6-3 in a nonconference match on Saturday.

Lawrence won at both Nos. 2 and 3 doubles and then swept the top four singles matches to secure the victory.

Jason Dunn (No. 1), Max Zlevor (No. 2), Caleb Ray (No. 3 ) and Cooper Smith (No. 4) were all singles winners for the Vikings.

Box score

Bolgrien, Dwyer, Stevens pick up wins at UW-Oshkosh Open

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Anna Bolgrien, Amanda Dwyer and Sam Stevens were all winners for Lawrence University on Saturday at the UW-Oshkosh Open at Titan Stadium.

Bolgrien ran to victory in the 400-meter hurdles, and Dwyer was the winner in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. On the men’s side, Stevens took the top spot in the 1,500 meters, and the 1,600 relay team of Stevens, Mike Mangian, Dan Thoresen and Kevin Fitzgerald also took first.

Results