The Highlights

Scores, news and more from Lawrence University Athletics

Murray fires one-hitter as Vikings blank Thomas

CLERMONT, Fla. — Shannon Murray fired a one-hit shutout as the Lawrence University softball team wrapped up its spring break trip with an 8-0 nonconference victory over Thomas College on Friday.

Murray struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter. The only hit she allowed was a slow roller infield single in the third inning.

Murray also went 3-for-3 with three doubles and two runs batted in to pace the Lawrence offense. Mary Diduch went 2-for-3 and drove in a run, and Alissa Geipel had a double and three RBIs for the Vikings (4-8).

 The Vikings jumped on Thomas in the bottom of first with a pair of runs. Alex Chiodo doubled and Murray drove her in with a double for a 1-0 lead. Kara Vance followed with a run-scoring single to put the Vikings up 2-0.

The Vikings stretched that lead with five runs in the second. Shoddy defense put a pair of Lawrence runners aboard, and Cory Paquette singled to drive in a run. After the second out of the inning, Chiodo was intentionally walked to lead the bases. Geipel then belted a three-run double to put Lawrence up 6-0. Murray followed with a run-scoring double and Lawrence led 7-0.

Lawrence closed the game out in the bottom of the fifth when Murray doubled and later scored on Diduch’s single.

Bethel pulls away late to down Vikings

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Bethel (Minn.) University baseball team scored seven runs in the final four innings and downed Lawrence University 11-2 in a nonconference game on Friday.

Bethel (7-6) led 4-1 after five innings but scored five times in the sixth and added two more runs in the eighth to put the game away. Lead-off hitter David Freed went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three runs batted in to pace Bethel

Lawrence (2-7) scored single runs in the first and seventh innings. The Vikings collected eight hits, and Josh Graber paced the Vikings by going 2-for-3. 

Davis Ogilvie allowed seven hits over 4.1 innings and took the loss. He walked five and struck out five. David Anderson went seven innings and allowed only one earned run to pick up the win.

 

Whitewater rallies to top Lawrence

CLERMONT, Fla. — The UW-Whitewater softball team scored eight times in the fifth inning to rally for an 11-6 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Friday.

Lawrence (3-8) led 4-1 before the Warhawks rallied in the fifth. Bekka Houda picked up the win in relief for Whitewater, and Liz Barthels started and took the loss for the Vikings.

Six different players collected one hit apiece for Lawrence. Amanda Mertes went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in to pace Whitewater.

Lawrence went up 2-0 in the first when Shannon Murray picked up a run-scoring single, and Kara Vance added a sacrifice fly to drive in another run. The Vikings made it 4-0 in the top of the third with just one hit but got help from two Whitewater errors. Lawrence scored the first run of the frame on a misplayed sacrifice bunt, and Vance drove in the other with a ground out.

Whitewater cut the lead to 4-1 in the bottom half of the inning, and the Warhawks then pulled away in the fifth. Whitewater scored eight runs on 10 hits in the inning to go up 9-4.

The Warhawks went up 11-4 with two runs in the sixth, but the Vikings added a pair of runs in the seventh. Barthels drove in one-run with a bases-loaded walk, and the other run scored on a Whitewater error.

SUNY-Oneonta rallies late to down Lawrence

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The SUNY-Oneonta baseball team rallied for seven runs in the seventh inning and topped Lawrence University 12-7 in a nonconference game on Thursday.

The Vikings had led 6-4 heading into the decisive seventh inning.

Lawrence, which collected nine hits, was led by Davide Harris, who went 2-for-5. Oneonta led 3-2 after the top of the fourth, but Lawrence tied it in the bottom half of the inning. The Vikings then added a pair of runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to take a 6-4 edge.

Oneonta, which had 14 hits, then scored seven times in the seventh against the Lawrence bullpen. Starter Drew Doares allowed three earned runs over the first six innings, and Kelton Jenkins took the loss in relief.

 

Plymouth State tops Vikings in extra innings

CLERMONT, Fla. — Plymouth State University scored five times in the top of the ninth and held on for an 11-8 nonconference victory over Lawrence University on Thursday.

Lawrence (3-7) rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth and had the tying run at the plate before the Panthers got the final out.

The teams were tied 5-5 after seven innings, and Plymouth State got a run in the top of the eighth. Lawrence tied the game when Kara Vance singled to score Alissa Geipel in the bottom half of the inning.

The Panthers then struck for five runs in the ninth, but Lawrence rallied again. Mary Diduch tripled to score Vance and cut the lead to 11-7. After a ground out, Cory Paquette singled to score Diduch and trim the margin to 11-8. After a pop up, Alex Chiodo walked to put the tying run at the plate, but Geipel struck out to end the game.

Vance, Diduch and Cathy Kaye all went 2-for-4 for the Vikings. Kaye belted a homer, Diduch had a triple and Vance posted a double. Chiodo also picked up a pair of hits for the Vikings, and Shannon Murray had a triple and two runs batted in.

Plymouth State scored two in the top of the first, but the Vikings tied it in the bottom half of the inning. Chiodo singled and Geipel reached on an error to get the rally started. Murray then tripled to score both.

Lawrence went up 4-2 with two runs in the bottom of the third. After Kaye reached on an error and Chiodo walked Murray grounded out to score Kaye. Vance followed with a double to score Chiodo and put the Vikings up 4-2.

After Plymouth State scored three times in the top of the fifth to go up 5-4, Kaye homered to lead off the bottom half of the inning to tie it.

Lawrence rally falls short against Washington and Jefferson

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Lawrence University softball team rallied late against Washington and Jefferson College but dropped a 6-4 nonconference decision on Thursday.

Lawrence (3-6) trailed 5-0 but trimmed that margin in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs. Alissa Geipel was at first when Shannon Murray tripled to cut the lead to 5-1. Murray then scored on a wild pitch to trim the margin to 5-2.

Lawrence  rallied again in the seventh with two outs. Errors allowed both Cory Paquette and Cathy Kaye to reach, and Alex Chiodo followed with a run-scoring single to trim the lead to 6-3. The Presidents committed another error to allow Geipel to reach and Kaye to score.

With the tying runs on base, Murray then hit a sharp liner to center field that was caught to end the game. 

Murray went the distance for Lawrence and took the loss. She allowed five hits, struck out two and walked one. The Presidents did almost all their damage in the first when they scored four times on three hits with the help of a walk and an error.

Calvin shuts out Lawrence

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Calvin College men’s tennis team blanked Lawrence University 9-0 on Thursday in a nonconference match.

Lawrence (4-8) took three of the singles matches to a third set but couldn’t come out on top. The Vikings wrapped up their spring break trip to Florida with a 2-3 record.

Box score

 

Larson ties career wins record against Whitworth

ORLANDO, Fla. — Lawrence University star women’s tennis player Beth Larson tied the school’s career singles wins record in the Vikings’ 8-1 loss to Whitworth University on Wednesday.

Larson now has 66 career victories and that ties her with Anita Salzberger, who played for the Vikings from 1987-90. Larson could break the record when the Vikings return to action on Sunday against Edgewood College at 3 p.m. on the Lawrence Courts.

Larson got the tying win with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Alli Marshall at No. 1 singles.

Larson also pushed her season win total to 20, which places her one victory shy of tying Linda Tomtshak’s season record of 21 in 1985.

Box score

Western Connecticut pulls away late to top Lawrence

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Western Connecticut State University baseball team pulled away in the final two innings to post a 12-4 nonconference win over Lawrence University on Wednesday.

Western Connecticut led 5-4 going into the top of the eighth, and the Colonials scored five times in the eighth and added two more runs in the ninth.

Lawrence (2-5) outhit the Colonials 14-11, but the Vikings couldn’t cash in on multiple scoring chances. Lawrence could have pulled away early, but the Vikings left seven runners on in the first three innings.

Davide Harris and Gabe Henriques both went 4-for-5 to pace the Lawrence attack. Harris picked up a triple and Henriques drove in a run. Phil Wisniewski went 2-for-3, drove in a run and stole two bases for the Vikings.

Western Connecticut led 2-0 after the top of the first, but the Vikings tied it in the bottom half of the inning. Harris and Henriques got the rally started with back-to-back singles, and the Vikings later loaded the bases when Tim Kinsella walked. Wisniewski and Joel Birch then drew back-to-back bases-loaded walks to tie the game.

The Colonials scored twice in the fifth and added another run in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. Lawrence scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to cut the margin to 5-4. Harris started that rally with a triple, and Henriques followed with a single to drive him in. Henriques later scored when one of the Colonials misplayed a fly ball.

Western Connecticut then sealed the win with seven runs in the final two innings.

Freshman Dan Taylor made the start and pitched into the fourth inning. Eric Bohling took the loss in relief for Lawrence.

 

Vikings cut down Colby

CLERMONT, Fla. — The Lawrence University softball team scored all of its runs in the first three innings and rolled to a 7-1 nonconference victory over Colby College on Tuesday.

Shannon Murray went the distance and scattered six hits for Lawrence (3-5). Murray struck out six and didn’t walk a batter. Lawrence picked up seven hits from seven different hitters.

The Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when freshman Kara Vance smacked a two-out, two-run double.

Murray nearly picked up a grand slam in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded, Murray’s fly ball hit the top of the fence and caromed back into play, but all three runners scored to give Lawrence a 5-0 lead.

Colby trimmed the lead to 5-1 with a run in the top of the third, but the Vikings scored twice in the bottom half of the inning. The Vikings put two runners aboard with a walk and an error, and Cathy Kaye then singled to drive in both runners and put Lawrence up 7-1.