Softball senior night with a doubleheader

Last Saturday, April 15 was the last home game for Lawrence’s softball team (3-7, eighth in Conference Standing) this year. The Lady Vikings took on the Lake Forest College softball team (5-3, fourth CS) on the double header game in Appleton, Wis. On the softball senior night, three seniors on the team were honored before the game.

These seniors are Rheya Upadhyaya, Outfielder; Samantha Belletini, Catcher and Marisa Thackston, Infielder. They have played for the Vikings in all 26 games of this season. Upadhyaya ends the season with 21 hits and three doubles (eight hits and one double in conference) and Belletini finishes with 21 hits and five doubles (six hits and two doubles in conference). Thackston comes close with 14 hits and one double (10 hits in conference). They are and will still be an integral part of the Vikings’ softball team and their contribution will always be remembered. Good luck to them in their journey ahead.

Looking back to the double header against Lake Forest College, our softball team was not able to catch up with the energy of Lake Forest and lost both Midwest Conference games 6-1 and 7-1 at Whiting Field.

Facing the much stronger team (fourth in the Conference Standing), the team was ready for a tough double header. With the support of family and friends, the Lady Vikings started the first game confidently. However, Lake Forest displayed their dominance in the opener scoring two runs in the first inning. Even when neither team scored in the second inning, Lake Forest continued to add two more in the third to lead 4-0 early. Their pitcher Jenny McTague was the star of game 1, allowing five hits and a run over seven innings to get the win. The Lady Vikings finished one run in the sixth inning, ending the game with a score of 6-1. Upadhyaya went 2 H for 3 AB for the Vikings (12-14,3-7). Sophomore Lexi Angemi pitched the rest of the game after sophomore Madeline MacLean failed to get an out in the first inning. She successfully allowed seven hits and four runs while striking out three and walking four.

In the next game, the Lady Vikings lost three runs in the first inning. Lake Forest’s team continued to do another run in the second and another three runs in the fourth. The Lady Vikings took one back in the fifth inning, but that was all the Vikings could do that day. Freshman Amanda Karnatz went two for three in this game and swiped a pair of bases in the whole doubleheader to push her season total to 30. The doubleheader ended with two losses for the Vikings: 6-1 and 7-1.

This loss will affect the standing of the Lady Vikings since the team will face St. Norbert (9-1, first Conference Standing) this Wednesday and the team behind, Beloit College (3-7, ninth Conference Standing) is on a winning streak. One encouraging fact is that the Vikings finished the home season with 50%-win rate (6-6), which is really nice even though they had faced many strong opponents. The last four games will be much harder for the team because they will have to play far from the home court. However, seeing the strong spirit in every athlete, we can still hold on to the belief that the Lady Vikings will see better results ahead!