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Cornell tops Lawrence 6-2 at MWC Tournament

APPLETON, Wis. — The Cornell College softball team got big hits from the bottom of the order on Saturday and used that to post a 6-2 victory over Lawrence University at the Midwest Conference Tournament at Whiting Field.

Lawrence (20-14) now faces an elimination game on Sunday at 10 a.m. against St. Norbert College. Cornell (22-14) moves into Sunday’s noon championship game against the winner of the Lawrence-St. Norbert contest. The winner of the MWC Tournament receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The bottom three hitters in the Cornell lineup went 7-for-9 with both Renata Rankin and Brianna Carney both going 3-for-3. Rankin scored three of Cornell’s six runs.

Amanda Engel went the distance to pick up the win for Cornell. She allowed four hits, struck out two and walked two. Shannon Murray took the loss in relief for Lawrence. Anna Wawiorka went 2-for-3 for the Vikings.

Lawrence got a run in the second when Wawiorka singled and later scored on an error and added another run in the third when Cathy Kaye walked and scored on Shannon Murray’s double.

Cornell tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third when the Rams got consecutive singles from Rankin, Carney and Rachel Aubrey. Rankin scored on Aubrey’s single, and Carney later scored on Brittani Yost’s sacrfice fly.

The Rams added two more runs in the fourth on a solo homer from Kari Martin and Carney’s run-scoring double to go up 4-2.

Cornell sealed the win with two more runs in the sixth, and Rankin and Carney got that rally started with back-to-back singles. Kelsey Boss then belted a two-run, two-out double to put Cornell ahead 6-2.

In an earlier  game Saturday, St. Norbert defeated Lake Forest College 8-5 to eliminate the Foresters.

Box score

 

Vikings finish fourth at MWC Championships, Pino earns all-conference honors

ROCKFORD, Ill. — The Lawrence University golf team turned in its best round of the Midwest Conference Championships on Saturday and tied for fourth place.

Lawrence carded a team score of 327 in Saturday’s third round at the par-72 Aldeen Golf Club and finished with a team score of 824. The Vikings make up nine shots in the final round to pull into a fourth-place tie with Grinnell College. The fourth-place finish was the best for Lawrence since the Vikings took fourth back in 2008.

Freshman Rudi Pino also had his best round of the championships when he carded a 77 on Saturday. Pino finished with a 45-hole score of 198 to tie for eighth place. By virtue of his top-10 finish, Pino earned a spot on the all-conference team.

Anton Olsson shot 86 in the final round and finished tied for 17th at 205. Michael Vaubel shot a solid 79 on Saturday and finished tied for 19th at 206. Tyler Clark fired an 85 in the final round and finished 24th at 215. Fabian Sivnert shot 101 in the final round and finished 37th at 234.

St. Norbert College won the team title with a score of 783, and the Green Knights’ Nic Vrubley won the title with a score of 188.

Results

Lawrence downs Lake Forest in extra innings in opening game of MWC Tournament

APPLETON, Wis. — Alissa Geipel scored on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning Saturday to lift the Lawrence University softball team to a 3-2 victory over Lake Forest College in the opening game of the Midwest Conference Tournament at Whiting Field.

Lawrence (20-13) advances to play either Cornell College or St. Norbert College at 5 p.m. today. Lake Forest (17-17) will face either Cornell or St. Norbert in an elimination game at 3 p.m. today.

With the score tied at 2-2, Geipel led off the ninth with a line single to right field that got under the glove of Kayla Borgra, and Geipel ended up at second on the play.

After Cory Paquette’s sacrifice bunt moved Geipel to third, Tierney Duffy hit a fly ball to center field. Geipel raced home ahead of the throw and Lawrence led 3-2.

Borgra led off the bottom of the ninth with a single that went to the wall in the gap in right field. Cathy Kaye threw a strike to Geipel and cut down Borgra at second for the first out. Shannon Murray then retired the next two hitters to secure the win.

The Vikings got a great pitching performance from Murray, who allowed only four hits and went the distance. She struck out 11 and walked one. Jessi Werner took the loss despite a standout pitching performance for Lake Forest. Werner allowed eight hits, struck out 10 and walked four.

Alex Chiodo went 2-for-4 to pace the Vikings. Whitney Leiderman also went 2-for-4 on a pair of bunt singles for Lake Forest.

The Vikings got on the board in the top of the third when Duffy led off with a single and stole second. With two outs, Savanna Marsicek grounded back up the middle, and the ball was knocked down by second baseman Kaleigh Ambrose. Duffy never stopped running and scored on the play for a 1-0 lead.

Lawrence made it 2-0 when Murray belted a solo homer in the top of the sixth. The Foresters pulled back to even and forced extra innings when Sam Ritsema hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.

Box score

Olsson leads Vikings as second round of MWC Championships trimmed to nine holes

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Friday’s second round of the Midwest Conference Championships was limited to only nine holes due to rain but the Lawrence University golf team maintained fifth place in the team standings.

The Vikings completed the first round on the par-72 layout at Aldeen Golf Club on Friday morning after they were halted by darkness on Thursday evening. Lawrence carded a team score of 333 in the first round and followed that with 164 in the nine-hole second round for a total of 497.

Sophomore Anton Olsson leads the Vikings after carding rounds of 81 and 38 and is tied for ninth place at 119. Freshman Rudi Pino shot 39 in the second round to go with his 82 in the first round and is in 16th place at 121.

Michael Vaubel posted rounds of 84 and 43 and is tied for 23rd place. Tyler Clark is in 26th place after rounds of 86 and 44 for a total of 130. Fabian Sivnert rounds out the team and is tied for 28th place at 133 after rounds of 88 and 45.

St. Norbert College is in first place with a team score of 470, and the Green Knights’ Nic Vrubley leads the tournament with a score of 113.

The championships conclude with an 18-hole third round on Saturday.

Results

Wet field conditions force MWC Tournament move to Whiting Field

APPLETON, Wis. — The wet softball field at St. Norbert College has forced a move for the Midwest Conference Tournament to Lawrence University’s Whiting Field.

The four-team, double-elimination tournament is now scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The softball facility at Whiting Field is located between Alexander Gymnasium and the Banta Bowl on East South River Street.

Lawrence and Lake Forest College will begin play at 11 a.m., and St. Norbert takes on Cornell College at 1 p.m. The losers of the two opening games then play at 3 p.m., and the winners of the two opening games meet at 5 p.m.

The tournament resumes at 10 a.m. on Sunday with an elimination game. The championship game will follow at noon. A second championship game, if needed, would be at 2 p.m.

If field conditions allow, the tournament would move back to Mel Nicks Field in De Pere on Sunday. If the field at St. Norbert is still unplayable on Sunday, the tournament would again be played at Lawrence.

MWC Tournament games postponed, tourney to start Saturday

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team’s start to the Midwest Conference Tournament will have until Saturday.

Rain and wet grounds at Mel Nicks Field in De Pere, Wis., has pushed the start of the MWC Tournament to 10 a.m. on Saturday. Lawrence will face Lake Forest College in the tournament’s opening game, and host school St. Norbert College faces Cornell College at noon. The losing teams from the two opening games play at 2 p.m. and the winners of the opening games face off at 4 p.m.

The tournament concludes on Sunday with an elimination game at 10 a.m. and the championship game at noon. A second championship game, if needed, will be played at 2 p.m.

Lawrence, winners of the league championship in 1997, 1998 and 1999, is making its first trip to the MWC Tournament since 2006.

Shipanik shuts down Marian as Vikings rally late for victory

APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University baseball team got a run in the bottom of the sixth to break a tie, and Gene Shipanik tossed five innings of scoreless relief as the Vikings beat Marian University 2-1 on Thursday in a nonconference game at Whiting Field.

Game two of the scheduled doubleheader was rained out.

It was the first collegiate victory for Shipanik, who took over for starter Drew Doares in the top of the third. Shipanik went five innings, allowed five hits, struck out one and walked two.

Davide Harris and Gabe Henriques paced the Lawrence offense with two hits apiece, and Aaron Benz drove in both runs for the Vikings (10-21).

Marian (18-14) scored its lone run of the contest in the top of the first, but Lawrence answered in the bottom half of the inning. Harris started the inning with an infield single, and Henriques followed with another single. After both runners stole a base, Benz’s groundout scored Harris to tie the game at 1-1.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth when Gabe Warshaw led off the inning with a single. He moved to second on Harris’ sacrifice bunt, and Henriques followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Benz then perfectly executed the suicide squeeze to score Warshaw and put Lawrence up 2-1.

Shipanik then worked a perfect seventh to complete the win.

Rain then moved in quickly and the second game was called after the field became saturated.

Lawrence wraps up its home schedule on Saturday when the Vikings host Carroll University.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Vikings set to crash MWC championship party

Lawrence University softball star Cathy Kaye takes that old expression about running through a wall for her team pretty seriously. With Lawrence’s season hanging in the balance last weekend, Kaye went crashing into the fence at Ripon College to help her Vikings.

Faced with having to win all four league games this past Saturday and Sunday to earn a spot in the Midwest Conference Tournament, the Vikings swept Carroll University and Ripon College. It was Kaye’s catch against the Red Hawks that epitomized Lawrence’s go-for-broke attitude.

“Cathy made one of the best catches I’ve seen her make during her career, and she nearly got whiplash from crashing into the fence,” Lawrence coach Kim Tatro said. “She came in smiling with blood on her teeth.”

Lawrence earned its first MWC Tournament berth since 2006 by finishing second in the North Division. St. Norbert College won the North, and Lake Forest College won the South Division with Cornell College earning the other tournament berth.

The Vikings enter the tournament with a 19-13 record and take on Lake Forest (17-16) in the opening game at 10 a.m. on Friday at Mel Nicks Field in De Pere. Host school St. Norbert (19-13) takes on Cornell (18-14) in the other opening game. The double-elimination tournament concludes Saturday with the winner receiving an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

“It’s been a few years (since Lawrence played in the tournament), and we’ve been pretty close on different occasions. To actually accomplish it is a pretty good feeling,” Tatro said.

“It’s kind of like a fresh start in some ways. We’re getting some clutch hits. We’re getting good defense and pitching well enough to win.”

The Vikings went into last weekend’s must-win games without feeling the pressure. After all, no one really expected Lawrence to pull off a four-game sweep, did they?

“It’s one of those things that we didn’t talk about,” Tatro said. “Everyone knew for sure, the team looks at the standings and the web so I’m sure they were well aware of the task at hand. Our goal was to play relaxed and play loose. We seem to play much better when we’re in that mode. I think if you look at it as a hill you have to climb, it adds stress to your life.”

The Vikings got big performances from their three seniors, Kaye, pitcher Shannon Murray and catcher Gaelen Lombard-Knapp. In the four must-win games, Murray hit .583 with four runs batted in, and she went 2-0 with two saves and posted a 0.74 earned run average.

“You can’t say enough about Shannon with her pitching, hitting and coming in for saves. I think it’s really kind of magical for the seniors,” said Tatro, adding she’s had big contributions from the first-year players as well.

The Vikings are starting four freshmen, third baseman Anna Wawiorka (.320 batting average), designated player Taylor Dodson (.305), outfielder Tierney Duffy (.277) and outfielder Savanna Marsicek (.239).

‘”We had freshmen stepping up all over the place, and our seniors couldn’t have been better at Ripon,” Tatro said.

This past weekend is a microcosm of the Lawrence season. The Vikings seem to get knocked down time and again and always rise to meet the next challenge.

“I’ve said it before. they are very resilient, and they proved that this past weekend,” Tatro said. “It doesn’t get any better than that,” Tatro said.

“I give credit to all 19 players on the roster for their mentality and their contributions. I think we have to stick to the same approach. To get tight now would be foolish. It’s about being loose and relaxed, and we have a little bit of extra confidence.”

Golfers go for gold

The Lawrence golf team also is playing in the league championships, which start Thursday at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford, Ill.

Lawrence, which finished seventh in the team standings in 2012, has two of the league’s top players in freshmen Rudi Pino and sophomore Anton Olsson.

Pino, who carded a career-low 68 this season, leads the league with a stroke average of 75.3 and Olsson isn’t far behind at 77.0. Both players will have a shot at the title but will have to contend with the likes of Carroll’s Cody Neu, Monmouth’s Britt Bothast and St. Norbert’s Joe Martin and Nic Vrubley.

The 54-hole tournament finishes up on Saturday.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Director of Athletic Media Relations 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 can’t get past doubles semifinals at MWC Championships; Girard named Coach of the Year

MADISON, Wis. — The doubles teams for Lawrence University were stopped in the semifinals on Sunday at the Midwest Conference Championships, but the Vikings still took home a big prize as Kevin Girard was named Coach of the Year.

Girard coached his squad to a second-place finish, Lawrence’s best showing at the championships since it took second back in 2003. Lawrence finished with a 14-7 dual meet record and won the league’s North Division. The Vikings finished second in the conference after losing to Grinnell College in the league championship match on Friday. This was the first time Girard has won Coach of the Year since coming to Lawrence in the summer of 2007.

Lawrence’s Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams both reached the championship semifinals on Sunday.

The No. 2 team of Cooper Smith and Jeremy Andereck stopped Cornell in straight sets in the quarterfinals, but then lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to the team from Grinnell, which went on to win the title, in the semifinals. The No. 3 team of Brian DeCorte and Craig Sherwood rolled past Monmouth in the quarterfinals but fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to St. Norbert College in the semifinals.

The No. 1 team of Jason Dunn and Max Zlevor lost in the championship quarterfinals and were eliminated in the consolation first round.

Results

Vikings sweep Ripon to secure MWC Tournament berth

RIPON, Wis. — The Lawrence University softball team swept Ripon College on Sunday and earned a berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament in the process.

Lawrence (19-13, 7-7 MWC) won the opener 3-1 and took the nightcap 4-2.

The Vikings will be the No. 2 seed from the North Division when the tournament begins Friday. St. Norbert College won the North Division and will host the tournament. This is Lawrence’s first appearance in the MWC Tournament since the Vikings went five consecutive seasons from 2002-06.

Lawrence entered Sunday’s play knowing it needed a sweep of the games to advance to the MWC Tournament, and the Vikings got a standout pitching performance in the opener. Shannon Murray tossed a four-hit shutout, striking out four and walking one.

Murray went 2-for-3 and drove in a run and Anna Wawiorka also picked up a pair of hits for the Vikings.

The Vikings got on the board with an unearned run in the third. After Cathy Kaye reached on error and moved to second on the play, she scored on Murray’s single to put Lawrence up 1-0.

The Vikings added two more runs in the fourth for a 3-0 edge. Taylor Dodson got things stared with a walk and pinch-runner Gaelen Lombard-Knapp then scored on Cory Paquette’s double. After an error put sunners at the corners, Kaye singled to score Paquette.

Murray then shut Ripon (11-17, 5-9) down, retiring the Red Hawks in order in teh sixth and seventh to secure the victory.

In the nightcap, Murray and Kara Vance combined to hold off the Red Hawks. Murray made the start and went three-plus innings. Vance came on in relief to stop what could have been a big inning in the fourth.

Lawrence had taken a 3-0 in the top half of the inning when Dodson singled with the bases loaded. Mary Diduch and Alex Chiodo scored and a Ripon error allowed Alissa Geipel to also score on the play.

Ripon got two hits off Murray in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 3-1 when Vance came in. Another run scored on a groundout, and the Vikings led 3-2.

Lawrence got a run back in the top of the fifth when Kaye singled and later scored on Murray’s single to push the lead to 4-2.

After Vance gave up a two-out single in the seventh, Murray came back in to pitch and got a popup to end the game.

Murray went 3-for-4 in the nightcap and drove in a run. Dodson and Kaye both had two hits and Dodson drove in a pair of runs.

Game one box score

Game two box score