The Lawrence University baseball team faced the Green Knights of St. Norbert College last weekend, splitting Saturday’s doubleheader at home and losing both games away on Sunday.
In game one on Saturday, the Vikings (8-15, 4-8 MWC) were down 8-3 to St. Norbert (20-7, 10-2 MWC) going into the bottom of the fifth, when they scored five runs. They scored five hits that inning, including a home run from senior Tim Salm and doubles from sophomore Wes Otte and senior Adam Fritsch.
The Green Knights were unable to score in the sixth, but Lawrence had no such problem. Highlighted by Salm’s second homer of the game, the Vikes scored three more runs, putting them up 11-8.
Salm hit a single in the seventh to get his sixth RBI of the game and close out the scoring in the first game, making it a 12-8 victory for Lawrence. Sophomore Luke Kostreva brought his record to 2-2, with four innings of relief pitching for sophomore stand-out Andy Frelich.
In game two, St. Norbert led 4-3 going into the ninth inning. The Green Knights then hit a double and a homer, which put them up 7-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, with the Vikes looking for a comeback. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch allowed freshman Ben Konetzke to score. Sophomore T.J. Frett’s hit gave freshman Robert Rashid a run and another wild pitch allowed Otte to score. Unfortunately, the scoring ended there, when Frett was thrown out at home. Junior Alex Fritsch took the loss, with a final score of 7-6.
Lawrence looked to make up for the close game Saturday when they traveled to face St. Norbert again on Sunday, but it was not to be.
Fueled by doubles from Otte, Fritsch and senior Doug McEneaney, the Vikings piled on four runs in the fifth to help put them up 7-6 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. The Green Knights scored four in the sixth and one more in the seventh, giving them the 11-7 lead. Senior Tommy Schmidt’s home run in the ninth gave the Vikes two more runs, but the next two batters struck out, ending the game to a disappointing 11-9. Kostreva took the loss.
St. Norbert won game two convincingly, as pitcher Trevin Hillesheim allowed the Vikings only two hits and no runs, with the final score of 10-0. Konetzke took the loss for Lawrence. The Green Knights clinched a berth in the conference tournament with their victories.
The Lawrence baseball team finishes out their conference action this weekend when they play Carroll College (7-20, 2-10 MWC) away on Saturday and home on Sunday, with a 1:00 p.m. start time.
Baseball dropped from MWC playoff race -cd
