Baseball looks to build after loss

Amanda Ollerer

It was a rough weekend for the men’s baseball team going only one for five. Since the fields at Alex are not yet playable, the men traveled to Grinnell, Iowa to compete. The first game looked positive for the Vikings, who were up 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Chad Skaer hit a single to bring junior Eric Bohling across the plate, while sophomore Davide Harris scored on an error.

But in the fourth inning, the Rams of North Central took the lead after the Vikings allowed five runs, including a two-run home run. The Rams concluded the first of this three game series with nine more runs in the sixth inning, defeating the Vikings 16-4.

The first game of day two was another challenge for the Vikings, who lost 7-3 to the Rams. Andrew Wilt pitched six innings and allowed 11 hits. Lawrence didn’t begin their second game much better. By the bottom of the fourth, the Vikings had fallen behind 10-0. It was looking bleak until sophomore Richie Foreman had a RBI from a double and sophomore Phil Wisniewski had a RBI from a single.

The Vikings brought in three more runs that inning, narrowing the gap to seven. In the fifth inning, Harris, Bohling and Foreman all had scoring singles to get the Vikings within five, making it 12-7. The bottom of the seventh saw another rally for the Vikings beginning with Sam Kossow’s single that drove in a run. Wisniewski followed with a scoring double, making it 12-9. Foreman hit a fly ball that was caught, but successfully brought in Kossow. The pitcher for the Rams walked and hit the next two batters.

Gabe Henriques was next to bat. He hit a single to drive in Wisniewski. Senior Robert Rashid was walked, forcing another run to tie the game at twelve. Harris hit a single sending the winning run on third home, giving the Vikings their second victory of their season by defeating the Ram 13-12. The series ended 1-2. Dan Salzbrenner pitched nearly four innings for the Vikings that game, earning his first collegiate win.

After Iowa, the men headed to Chicago to play a double header against the University of Chicago Maroons. Trying to build off of their win against the Rams, the Vikings gave it their all. The first few innings were close, but the Maroons pulled ahead in the fourth inning with five runs, and four more runs in the fifth inning to defeat the Vikings 13-2. Henriques scored Lawrence’s two runs in the third inning off of a triple. The men tried to get their focus back for the second game.

Alex Brewer and Rashid both had two hits, including Rashid’s marvelous triple, but after a long weekend and with injured pitchers, the Vikings could not find the consistency they were looking for. Brian King pitched two innings for the Vikings, while Bohling pitched three innings. There were also appearances on the mound by Sam Ausloos, John Revis and Mike Baldino. The Maroons defeated our Vikings in the second game 24-2.

The Vikings play again Tuesday, April 5 against Monmouth, the first conference game of the season.