To finish out the Midwestern Conference series finale, the Vikings baseball team pulled out an incredible offensive outing against Monmouth College, putting up four runs before the Scots could answer. For the first three innings, Lawrence and Monmouth were stuck in a scoreless stalemate. While the Vikings had a few strikeouts, sophomore pitcher Quinn Berglin was able to stave off a Monmouth lead by throwing some of his own.
The Vikings were the first to capitalize in the fourth inning – sophomore Zach Leslie scored a double at the top of the inning, and was able to pick up a run off of his teammates’ groundouts on the following plays. Lawrence would not put up points on the board, as the Scots and the Vikings traded strikeouts on the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth, however, Lawrence would find an offensive outlet once again in the efforts of first-year outfielder Parker Knoll. Knoll managed a single to get out onto the field, and was able to move to second base, using the timing of an error by Scot pitcher Jeff Garrett. He was then able to steal third from underneath Monmouth, and took the run back home n a single from Leslie.
The seventh inning stole whatever chance Monmouth had of a comeback; after a one-out walk from senior Spenser Ross, Knoll returned with a massive triple that scored two runs on one play. With the lead now 4- 0, Monmouth attempted a comeback that was nearly successful. Justin Bost of Monmouth was able to score off his own single and walks from teammates Raul Guillermo and Jack Kuethe. Keuthe was able to score alongside Bost, and Guillermo advanced quickly on a wild pitch. Despite the massive seventh inning, the Scots were unable to pull out a comeback, and the game ended 4-3, with Lawrence winning the series finale in the conference. The Vikings are now 18-19 overall and 13-4 in the Midwestern conference, where Monmouth falls to 12-18 and 6-1, respectively. This coming weekend, the Vikings will look to bolster their strong conference lead to 14-4, where they will travel to Beloit college and challenge the Buccaneers at home.