The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

Vikings fall to Illinois College 4-1

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The Illinois College softball team limited Lawrence University to only three hits en route to a 4-1 victory over the Vikings on Sunday at the Midwest Conference Classic.

Alese Speckhart went the distance for Illinois College (14-11, 5-3 MWC) to get the win. She struck out one and walked three.

The Lady Blues scored two runs in the first and another in the second to build an early 3-0 lead. Lawrence (12-10, 2-4) countered with a run in the bottom of the third on Cathy Kaye’s lead-off homer. Illinois College added an insurance run in the top of the fourth to complete the scoring.

Courtney Kwasnitza and Paige Meyer had two hits apiece for Illinois College, and Paige Cullison drove in a pair of runs.

Kara Vance pitched the first four innings and took the loss. She allowed seven hits and four runs, three earned.

Lawrence finished with a 2-4 mark against the South Division at the MWC Classic. Lawrence opens play against the North Division when it travels to Ripon College on Thursday.

Monmouth shuts out Vikings 3-0

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The Monmouth College softball team parlayed four hits into three runs and downed Lawrence University 3-0 on Sunday at the Midwest Conference Classic.

Monmouth (14-10, 6-4 MWC) got a solo homer from Caitlin Lingle and then added a pair of insurance runs late to top the Vikings (12-9, 2-3).

Lingle gave the Scots the lead with her solo shot to lead off the bottom of the second. Monmouth added two runs in the sixth on a single, an error, a wild pitch and a run-scoring single.

Alyssa Edler went the distance to get the win for Monmouth. She limited Lawrence to four hits, struck out three and walked one. Shannon Murray went the distance for Lawrence and took the loss. She also gave up four hits, struck out six and walked two.

Vikings drop pair to Beloit

BELOIT, Wis. — The Beloit College baseball team completed a four-game Midwest Conference sweep of Lawrence University by winning 7-3 and 5-0 on Sunday at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium.

The Buccaneers (6-11, 3-0 MWC) won the opener by rallying for five runs in the top of the ninth inning, and two pitchers combined to shut out the Vikings (6-10, 0-6) in the nightcap.

In the opener, Lawrence trailed 2-0 before it scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on Sam Kossow’s run-scoring single. The Vikings added two more runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Davide Harris doubled to score Jake Gordon, who had also doubled, to tie the game at 2-2. After Gabe Henriques followed with a single, Harris scored on an attempted double steal for a 3-2 lead.

The score stayed that way until the ninth when Beloit scored five times on six hits, including Grant Henricksen’s two-run single.

Alex Brewer pitched 8.1 innings, allowed five runs on seven hits, and took the loss. Andrew Kane pitched an inning of relief to pick up the win. Harris had two hits in the contest to pace the Lawrence offense.

In the nightcap, Joe Loftus and Patrick McKnight combined for the shutout. Loftus went 5.1 innings and allowed four hits. McKnight went the rest of the way and allowed two hits to pick up the save.

Kelton Jenkins allowed all five runs in eight innings and took the loss.

Beloit, which scored two runs in the second and added three more in the seventh, had four players with two hits apiece. Marc Linger went 3-for-4 to lead Lawrence at the plate.

The Vikings return to action on Tuesday when they host Ripon College in a Midwest Conference doubleheader.

Lawrence shoots down Stars 9-0

FOND DU LAC, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team rolled to a 9-0 nonconference win over Dominican University on Sunday at Center Court.

The Vikings (10-6) got off to a hot start by dropping only five games en route to sweeping the three doubles matches. Lawrence then won all six singles matches without dropping a set.

Both Jason Dunn at No. 2 singles and Brian DeCorte at No. 4 lost just one game in their singles matches.

Freshman Mitch Kasprzyk picked up his first collegiate singles victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mohit Shekhar at No. 5.

Lawrence University 9, Dominican University 0

Singles competition
1. Cooper Smith (LU) def. Amarantos, Kevin (DU) 6-2, 7-5
2. Jason Dunn (LU) def. Tabaka, Greg (DU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Max Zlevor (LU) def. Clark, Spencer (DU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Chavez, Adrian (DU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Mitch Kasprzyk (LU) def. Shekhar, Mohit (DU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Ethan Perushek (LU) def. Foley, William (DU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Jason Dunn/Max Zlevor (LU) def. Amarantos, Kevin/Tabaka, Greg (DU) 8-4
2. Brian DeCorte/Craig Sherwood (LU) def. Clark, Spencer/Chavez, Adrian (DU) 8-0
3. Daniel Anderson/Adam Busch (LU) def. Shekhar, Mohit/Foley, William (DU) 8-1

Match Notes:
Dominican University 2-7
Lawrence University 10-6
T-3:00  A-25

Lawrence tops Carroll 5-4

NEW BERLIN, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team topped Carroll University 5-4 on Saturday night in a Midwest Conference North Division match at Moorland Park Tennis Center.

The Vikings swept the doubles and then managed a pair of victories in singles to close out Carroll

The No. 1 doubles team of Jason Dunn and Max Zlevor pulled out a 9-8 win with a 9-7 victory in the tiebreaker. The No. 2 doubles team of Cooper Smith and Jeremy Andereck and the No. 3 team of Craig Sherwood and Brian DeCorte both won 8-5.

Dunn then posted a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles, and Sherwood was a 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 winner at No. 4.

Lawrence University 5, Carroll University 4

Singles competition
1. Jack Michael (CU) def. Cooper Smith (LU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Jason Dunn (LU) def. Kevin Rasmussen (CU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Ryne Fertitta (CU) def. Max Zlevor (LU) 7-5, 6-4
4. Craig Sherwood (LU) def. Isaac Jordan (CU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
5. Frankie Giuffre (CU) def. Brian DeCorte (LU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Matt Joost (CU) def. Jeremy Andereck (LU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Jason Dunn/Max Zlevor (LU) def. Jack Michael/Ryne Fertitta (CU) 9-8 (9-7)
2. Cooper Smith/Jeremy Andereck (LU) def. Kevin Rasmussen/Frankie Giuffre (CU) 8-5
3. Craig Sherwood/Brian DeCorte (LU) def. Isaac Jordan/Matt Joost (CU) 8-5

Match Notes:
Lawrence University 9-6, 1-0 MWC North
Carroll University 9-7, 1-1 MWC North
T-3:30  A-25

Lawrence picks up trio of wins at Wisconsin Lutheran Invitational

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Lawrence University track team took home three first-place finishes on Saturday at the Wisconsin Lutheran College Invitational.

Anna Bolgrien won the 400-meter hurdles, Katherine Dannecker won the 5,000 meters and Sam Stevens won the men’s 5,000 meters.

Bolgrien ran to first place in 1:08.53 and freshman teammate Hayley Cardinal wsa fourth in 1:13.44. Dannecker ran to her victory in the 5K in 20:01.60.

Stevens and teammate Jamie Brisbois swept the top two places in the men’s 5K. Stevens was first in 15:14.00, and Brisbois was second in 15:51.49.

Lawrence also posted a trio of second-place finishes. Rose Tepper took second in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 3 inches. The women’s 800 sprint medley relay team of Sam Luebke, Liza Girsova, Kassidy Rinehart and Katie Barie was second in 2:01.21. The men’s 800 sprint medley team of JP Ranumas, Bjorn Gowdy-Jaehnig, Matt Geleske and Ben Bard grabbed second in 1:41.41.

The Lawrence mwne were fifth in the team standings with 73 points, and the men were sixth with 45 points.

Results

Beloit tosses pair of shutouts at Vikings

BELOIT, Wis. — The Beloit College baseball team tossed a pair of shutouts at Lawrence University on Saturday.

The Bucs won the opener 2-0 and took the nightcap 7-0.

In the opener, Beloit (5-11, 2-0 MWC) got a stellar outing from starter Andrew Edwards, who went seven innings to get the win. He allowed three hits, struck out four and walked two.

The Vikings (6-8, 0-4) wasted a fine effort from starter Drew Doares. He went 7.2 innings, allowed six hits and one earned run, struck out two and walked three.

Beloit got single runs in the sixth and eighth for all the offense it would need. Will Mack went 2-for-4 and Matt Meade was 2-for-3 to pace Beloit.

Aaron Benz collected two of Lawrence’s four hits in four at-bats.

In the nightcap, Beloit got another great performance from its starting pitcher. Ryan Kaveney went seven innings, allowed just one hit, struck out eight and walked five. The only hit he allowed was a second-inning, lead-off single by Davis Ogilvie.

Jerrick Habecker went 3-for-3 and scored three runs to spark the Beloit offense. Edwards also collected three hits, and Grant Henricksen had two hits and drove in three runs.

Atley Gay went six innings, allowed 12 hits and six runs and took the loss.

The teams are scheduled to complete the four-game series Sunday in Beloit.

Lawrence shuts out Grinnell 8-0

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — Shannon Murray and Jessica Demski combined to limit Grinnell College to only four hits as the Lawrence University softball team downed the Pioneers 8-0 on Saturday at the Midwest Conference Classic.

Murray tossed the first three innings, allowing two hits, striking out five and walking none, to get the win. Demski pitched the final three innings, allowed two hits, struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.

Alissa Geipel, Anna Wawiorka, Cory Paquette and Murray all had two hits for the Vikings, who piled up 12 hits against Grinnell starter Summer Wilke.

Lawrence took the lead with three runs in the second on two hits, but the Vikings got help in the form of three Grinnell errors in the frame. Lawrence added a run in the third to push the lead to 4-0 on Wawiorka’s RBI single.

The Vikings pulled away with three more runs in the fourth. Murray drove in a run with a bases-loaded groundout, Lawrence went up 7-0 when two more runs scored after an error on Wawiorka’s ground ball.

Lawrence pushed the margin to the eight-run rule when Wawiorka belted a run-scoring double in the sixth to score Geipel.

Lawrence wraps up play at the MWC Classic on Sunday by facing Monmouth College and Illinois College. Lawrence is now 2-2 for the event.

Homers power Lake Forest past Lawrence

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The Lake Forest College softball team hit eight home runs and rolled to a 19-3 victory over Lawrence University at the Midwest Conference Classic on Saturday.

Whitney Leiderman hit three homers and drove in seven runs for the Foresters (11-9, 7-0 MWC) on her way to going 4-for-5. Kayla Borgra went 3-for-5 and also homered for Lake Forest.

Alissa Geipel went 3-for-3 and belted a homer for Lawrence (11-8, 1-2). Cathy Kaye went 2-for-4 for the Vikings, who finished with 10 hits.

Jessi Werner went the distance for Lake Forest, allowing 10 hits over six innings while striking out four and walking one. Shannon Murray pitched the first two innings, allowed five hits and five runs, and took the loss.

Lake Forest held a 5-3 lead heading to the fourth inning when the Foresters added two runs to pull away. The Foresters then scored 12 times in the sixth to end the contest. Vasi Panos hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth for Lake Forest.

Lawrence falls to Cornell in extra innings

EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The Lawrence University softball team dropped a 6-4 decision to Cornell College on Friday at the Midwest Conference Classic.

Rebekah Ozga hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win it for the Rams (9-7, 2-3 MWC).

Lawrence (11-7, 1-1) had grabbed a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth when the game went to the international tiebreaker rule. Alex Chiodo delivered a two-out double to score Kara Vance and the Vikings had the lead.

Britt Schoon’s run-scoring single in the bottom half of the inning tied it for Cornell, and Ozga hit a two-out, two-run homer to end it.

Lawrence trailed 1-0 heading to the top of the fifth when the Vikings scored three times. Cory Paquette started the rally with a single, and Cathy Kaye then greeted relief pitcher Jackie Sernek with a two-run homer to put the Vikings up 2-1. Tierney Duffy followed with a single, stole second and scored on Shannon Murray’s single for a 3-1 edge.

Lawrence held that lead until Schoon hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to force the extra frames.

Murray went the distance and took the loss for Lawrence. She also went 3-for-5 and drove in a run for the Vikings. Chiodo, Paquette and Taylor Dodson all collected two hits for Larwence.

Sernek went 4.2 innings and picked up the win in relief.  

Lawrence returns to action at the MWC Classic on Saturday when it faces Grinnell College and Lake Forest College.