The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

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

St. Norbert rallies for pair of wins against Vikings

DE PERE, Wis. — The St. Norbert College softball team rallied for wins in both games to record a Midwest Conference doubleheader sweep of Lawrence University on Wednesday at Mel Nicks Field.

The Green Knights scored eight times in the fifth and went on to a 9-3 victory in the opener, and St. Norbert scored five times in the sixth and posted a 5-2 win in the nightcap.

In the opener, St. Norbert (9-11, 4-0 MWC) picked up 16 hits against Lawrence starter Shannon Murray. Steph Brunette led St. Norbert by going 3-for-4 and scoring three runs.

Murray went 2-for-3 for Lawrence (5-13, 0-2), which was limited to five hits against Shannen Schmidt.

Lawrence built a 3-1 lead with single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Brielle Bartes had a run-scoring single in the second and picked up a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The Vikings got the run in the fifth on Murray’s RBI double.

The Green Knights finally broke through in the fifth and scored eight times on eight hits in the inning. Abby Gildernick hit a three-run homer in the inning, and Morgan Buboltz added a two-run shot in the frame.

Lawrence built a 2-0 lead in the nightcap by scoring single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Cathy Kaye picked up a run-scoring double in the fifth, and Murray blasted a solo homer to put the Vikings up 2-0 in the sixth.

St. Norbert then struck for five runs in the bottom of the sixth with four hits and the Green Knights took advantage of two Lawrence errors. The big hit in the inning was Brunette’s two-run single, and Brunette finished 3-for-3 in the game.

Murray went the distance in the nightcap and took the loss. She also went 3-for-3 at the plate to pace the Lawrence offense. Morgan Rusch went the distance and got the win for St. Norbert.

Game one box score

Game two 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 shut out Rock Valley

WHITEWATER, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s tennis team rolled to a 9-0 shutout of Rock Valley College on Saturday on the Wangerin Courts at UW-Whitewater.

A pair of Lawrence players didn’t drop a game en route to singles victories. Playing at No. 4 singles, Lawrence’s Cooper Smith beat Dustin Novacek 6-0, 6-0, and the Vikings’ Craig Sherwood routed Joseph Delaughter 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles.

Box score

Warhawks down Lawrence

WHITEWATER, Wis. — The UW-Whitewater men’s tennis team posted an 8-1 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at the Wangerin Courts.

Lawrence’s lone victory against the Warhawks came at No. 1 singles where Jason Dunn defeated Byron Balkin 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).

Box score

Stevens, Tepper top Lawrence finishers at UW-Oshkosh Open

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Sam Stevens and Rose Tepper both grabbed second-place finishes to pace the Lawrence University track team at the UW-Oshkosh Open on Saturday.

Stevens, running the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the first time this season, placed second with a time of a 9:34.5. Tepper took second in the high jump despite tying Ripon College’s Jenna Breaker with a leap of 1.58 meters.

Results

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

 

Maroons sweep doubleheader from Lawrence

The University of Chicago pounded out 35 hits in Friday’s nonconference doubleheader and rolled to a sweep of Lawrence University at Whiting Field.

The Maroons (15-5) won the opener 11-1 in six innings and took the nightcap 14-3 in five innings.

In the opener, Julia Schneider, Liz Payonk and Raechel Cloud all went 3-for-4 for Chicago, which picked up 16 hits. Payonk drove in four runs for the Maroons.

Chicago led 3-1 after three innings, but scored three times in the fourth and sealed the win with five runs in the sixth. Sara Neuhaus went four innings and picked up the win.

Liz Barthels went the distance and took the loss for Lawrence (5-11). The Vikings’ offense, which was limited to five hits, was led by Kara Vance, who went 2-for-3.

In the nightcap, the Maroons jumped on Lawrence starter Shannon Murray and raced out to a 6-0 lead after three innings and added five runs in the fourth to pull away.

Tabbetha Bohac went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs for the Maroons, who had 19 hits. Kaitlyn Carpenter went 3-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs for Chicago. Emily Ashbridge pitched the final three innings to pick up the win.

Murray went the distance and took the loss. Lawrence was limited to four hits, but one of them was Murray’s solo homer in the fourth, her first round-tripper of the season.

Game one box score

Game two box score