It was a rough weekend weather-wise for the Lawrence University softball team as the blizzard caused them to postpone their two doubleheaders scheduled for this past weekend. However, they were able to get two games in against Ripon on Wednesday, April 11, before all the snow started falling.
In the first game of the double header, Ripon struck first in the fourth inning to take the lead 1-0, but the Lady Vikes bounced back with a huge fifth inning. Lawrence scored six runs in the inning off of a fielder’s choice RBI for junior Rachel Urich, an RBI single by sophomore Amanda Karnatz, a two-RBI triple by sophomore Maria Reiter, a sacrifice fly by sophomore Lexi Angemi and an RBI single by junior Madeline MacLean. The Lady Vikes gave up one run in the bottom of the inning but went on to win by a margin of 6-2.
Overall, both Reiter and Karnatz went 2-3 at the plate in the game. Reiter had a double and a triple while Karnatz added in a stolen base. Freshman Ceara Larson also tripled in the game. MacLean pitched a complete game for Lawrence, allowing only eight hits over seven innings.
In the second game, Lawrence got out to an early 1-0 lead in the third inning off of Reiter’s RBI-single that scored Urich. The Lady Vikes added another run in the top of the fourth inning to make the score 2-0 off of an RBI-single by junior Sophie Pedersen. However, Ripon responded in the second half of the inning to cut the Lawrence lead to 2-1. Ripon would add another run in both the sixth and the seventh innings and go on to win the game 3-2. Sophomore Emilia Jackson pitched this game for Lawrence, allowing nine hits and one earned run while striking out two.
Reiter was a huge contributor to the Lady Vikes’ offense over their last few games. She says, “I made a few tweaks to my swing that helped me to be more successful this past week. I’ve tried to be more patient at the plate and more selective of the pitches that I swing at.”
With the split double header, Lawrence’s record stands at 7-13 overall and 1-3 in the conference. Going forward, the team hopes to make a run. As Reiter explains, “All the games we play are important, but our conference record determines if we make it to the Midwest Conference Tournament. Our number one goal is to make it to the Midwest Conference Tournament. Another goal our team strives for is to be more aggressive both offensively and defensively.” The Lady Vikes currently sit eighth in the conference with the top four advancing, so look for some strong performances coming up.
Lawrence also hopes for better weather for the rest of the season as their ever-changing schedule is challenging athletically and academically. “We don’t have any specific tricks or superstitions, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that we won’t have to reschedule many more games due to the weather, because many of our games have already been rescheduled” added Reiter.
