Softball

Category: Softball

Inside LU Athletics: Winter weather playing havoc with spring sports

It was like taking away the toys from the kids on Christmas morning.

Lawrence University track and field coach Jason Fast was all set to have his team do its first workout on newly renovated Whiting Field last week when the sleet and snow buried the blue track with a blanket of white.

“It was a pretty rough blow, not just to myself but to the whole team,” Fast said. “Everyone was pining to get out on the brand new track and run on it.”

The snowstorm that hit the Fox Valley last week has made the past few days difficult for the Lawrence track, baseball and softball teams. The Vikings have been forced to go back indoors to work out and schedules have been shuffled in an effort to get some games completed.

“It’s not the first time in my career that we’ve come back up north and haven’t been able to play,” said Lawrence baseball coach Jason Anderson, whose Vikings played eight games in Florida during spring break.

“Baseball is a game designed to play every day so you have to get playing. With Midwest Conference play coming up, we needed to get some games in.”

The Lawrence baseball team had been scheduled to play North Central (Minn.) University at Whiting Field on March 26 but those games were pushed back to Friday and Saturday. With the field still covered with snow, Anderson is taking his Vikings on the road to play some “home” games.

The Vikings are headed to Anderson’s hometown of Grinnell, Iowa, to play three games with North Central this weekend before heading to the University of Chicago for a doubleheader on Sunday.

Fast and softball coach Kim Tatro will not have to go quite that far to get some game competition.

The track team was scheduled to compete at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on Saturday, but snow at Titan Stadium has moved that meet to Carroll University.

To prepare for that first outdoor competition, the Vikings got to work on Whiting Field. Track team members shoveled off 200 meters worth of three lanes and the high jump area on Monday and planned to clear the other 200 meters on Wednesday.

“The biggest thing was preparing for the outdoor season and keeping everyone on task. Whether we have a bunch of snow or not, the outdoor season is going to happen so we need to be ready,” Fast said.

“Seeing that devotion (shoveling the track) from the team shows we are ready to go outdoors and excited to get competing.”

The softball team has seen one doubleheader pushed back and will attempt to play at Marian University on Thursday. Lawrence is headed south to Beloit College, where there is virtually no snow, to play on Saturday. The Vikings are scheduled to play their home opener on April 6 against St. Norbert College.

The baseball team also used shovels to clear off as much of the Whiting Field infield as possible.

“The biggest issue we have on our field is the wind is crazy so we have a lot of drifting,” said Anderson, noting that there are drifts several feet high near the backstop. “That’s too much for us to move and it takes a lot longer to melt.”

Anderson’s goal is to play his first home game on April 10 when the Vikings open conference play with Beloit.

“The goal is to be able to play our conference home opener next weekend,” Anderson said. “If we get in four games this weekend of the five we have scheduled, I’ll be happy.”

Perfect start

Senior center fielder Robert Rashid picked up right where he left off last season. Rashid, one of the nation’s leaders in stolen bases in 2010, was 7-for-7 on steals in Lawrence’s first eight games. Rashid, who led the team with a .393 batting average during the spring break trip, stole a school season record 32 bases last season.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly 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.

Southern Maine tops Lawrence

CLERMONT, Fla. — The University of Southern Maine pounded out 12 hits and posted a 12-4 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Sunday at the National Training Center.

The Huskies jumped on Lawrence starter Cory Paquette and scored three times in the bottom of the first. Southern Maine knocked her out of the game in the third as the Huskies scored seven times to take command.

Lawrence made it 10-2 in the top of the fourth. Cathy Kaye started the rally with a single and later scored on Shannon Murray’s double. After a dropped third strike allowed Emily Perish to reach, Mary Diduch provided a run-scoring ground out to cap the rally.

Lawrence, which was limited to four hits, trimmed the lead to 10-4 in the fifth. Alissa Geipel started the rally with a single and then scored on Katie Simonsen’s triple. A poor throw from the outfield allowed Simonsen to come around and score.

Southern Maine then scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to secure the win via the eight-run rule.

Box score

Vikings edged by Colby

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Larwrence University softball team stranded 10 runners and dropped a 3-2 nonconference decision to Colby College on Sunday at the National Training Center.

Lawrence (3-6) was held to three hits but had a number of baserunners reachvia the walk. The Vikings left the bases loaded in the second and broke a scoreless tie in the third.

Mary Diduch’s ground out scored a runner gave Lawrence a 1-0 lead in the third, but Colby scored all three of its runs in the top of the fourth.

The Vikings cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth when Shannon Murray tripled and later scored on Diduch’s ground out.

The Vikings got runners on base in both the sixth and seventh but failed to mount a serious threat.

Emily Perish went the distance and took the loss. She allowed only four hits, walked four and struck out two.

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Plattsburgh State rallies late to top Vikings

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Plattsburgh State softball team rallied from a one-run deficit in the final two innings and posted a 4-2 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at the National Training Center.

Lawrence (3-4) had built a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the sixth. The Vikings got a run-scoring triple from Carli Gurholt in the first and a run-scoring single from Alissa Geipel in the fifth.

Cathy Kaye went 2-for-3 and scored a run to pace the Lawrence attack.

Plattsburgh (12-2) tied the game after two were out in the sixth with the help of two errors. An error put a runner aboard, but the Vikings threw the ball away after the runner was picked off. The Cardinals followed with a single to tie the game at 2-2.

Two errors sandwiched around a double allowed Plattsburgh to take a 3-2 lead in the seventh. Another error allowed a run to score and Plattsburgh led 4-2.

Emily Perish went the distance and took the loss. All three of the runs she gave up in the final two innings were unearned.

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UW-Superior pulls away from Vikings

CLERMONT, Fla. — The UW-Superior softball team mounted a pair of multi-run innings and posted a 6-2 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at the National Training Center.

The Yellowjackets (5-3) pulled away with three runs in the bottom of the third and two more in the bottom of the fourth.

Superior rode the four-hit pitching of Amanda LeBard, who struck out six and walked one in seven innings.

Shannon Murray went the distance and took the loss for Lawrence (3-5). She allowed nine hits, struck out one and walked one.

The Yellowjackets led 1-0 before Katie Simonsen’s run-scoring single tied it for Lawrence in the third. Superior then scored three times in the bottom half of the inning, two of them coming on Emily Eisenmann’s two-run single.

The Vikings cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth after Murray doubled and later scored on Gaelen Lombard-Knapp’s ground out. The Yellowjackets then scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to pull away for good.

LeBard shut Lawrence down from that point, holding the Vikings without a hit over the final three innings.

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Bach powers RPI past Lawrence

CLERMONT, Fla. — Jen Bach hit a pair of homers and pitched a complete game to lead Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to a 9-1 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Thursday at the National Training Center.

Bach pitched five innings and allowed only four hits to pick up the win. Lawrence (3-3) scored its lone run in the third.

RPI (6-4) led 3-0 when Bach homered to lead off the fourth. She then hit a two-run blast in the fourth to give the Engineers a 6-1 lead. RPI closed out the Vikings with three runs in the fifth.

Shannon Murray took the loss for the Vikings. She gave up nine hits in the five innings.

Box score

Rally comes up short against Concordia

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Lawrence University softball team dug itself an early hole and couldn’t quite climb out in a 7-6 nonconference loss to Concordia (Wis.) University on Thursday at the National Training Center.

Concordia (10-4) scored four times in the bottom of the first and led 4-1 after the opening inning. Lawrence cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the fifth, but the Falcons scored twice in the bottom half of the inning and added another run in the sixth to go up 7-3.

Lawrence cut the lead to 7-6 in the top of the seventh when sophomore catcher Gaelen Lombard-Knapp blasted a three-run homer, but that’s as close as the Vikings would get.

Center fielder Katie Simonsen went 2-for-4 with a double, and freshman Alex Chiodo also picked up a pair of hits for the Vikings.

Emily Perish went the distance but took the loss for Lawrence.

Box score

Vikings power past Macalester

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Lawrence University softball team exploded for six runs in the fourth inning and rolled to an 11-3 nonconference victory over Macalester College on Wednesday at the National Training Center.

Shortstop Carli Gurholt went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in to lead the Vikings (3-1). Alissa Geipel was 2-for-3 and drove in two runs, and Cory Paquette and Gaelen Lombard-Knapp both had two hits.

Shannon Murray, who went 2-for-3 and drove in a run, went the distance to pick up the victory. Murray, who didn’t allow a hit until the fourth, struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.

Lawrence scored twice in the third to start the scoring. The Vikings then scored six times in the fourth to take command. The big blow in the inning was Geipel’s bases-loaded, two-run double.

After Macalester (6-3) scored three times in the bottom half of the inning, Lawrence scored twice in the fifth and another run in the sixth to close out the Scots.

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Vikings pull out victory in final inning against Morris

CLERMONT, Fla. — Alex Chiodo’s single in the bottom of the seventh lifted the Lawrence University softball team to an 11-10 nonconference victory over the University of Minnesota-Morris at the National Training Center.

The Vikings had built a 10-2 lead after the first two innings, but Morris (0-7) chipped away at the lead. The Cougars then scored four times in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 10-10.

Lawrence started the winning rally in the bottom of the seventh when Gaelen Lombard-Knapp led off the inning with a single. Cory Paquette then got hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second.

After a pop up, a passed ball moved the runners to second and third. After another pop up, Chiodo laced a single to the outfield to score Lombard-Knapp with the winning run.

Carli Gurholt went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs batted in to pace the Vikings (2-1). Emily Perish went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs.

Shannon Murray, who had a double and drove in three runs, pitched the final inning and picked up the win.

Box score

Lawrence routs Franciscan in opening game of the season

CLERMONT, Fla. — Cathy Kaye got the Lawrence University softball season started with a bang.

Kaye homered in Lawrence’s first plate appearance of the season, just like she did in 2010, and the Vikings went on to rout Franciscan University 14-1 on Tuesday at the National Training Center.

Shannon Murray powered the Lawrence offense by going 4-for-4 with a grand slam and five runs batted in.

Emily Perish pitched the first two innings, and Cory Paquette tossed the final three. Paquette struck out four and walked two as the two pitchers combined to allow only three hits.

Lawrence jumped on the board with five runs in the first. Following Kaye’s lead-off homer, three walks and an error loaded the bases. Murray followed with a grand slam to put the Vikings up 5-0.

Kaye went 2-for-3 and Carli Gurholt was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI.

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