After losing two doubleheaders and postponing a third due to severe weather conditions, the Viking baseball team’s week did not go as hoped.
The Vikings first played Monmouth College in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, April 5, losing the opener 10-4 and the nightcap in a close 7-6 matchup.
The first inning ended in a 1-1 score thanks to Sam Kossow’s single that brought Gabe Henriques home, but the game took a turn for the worse in the second inning. With one error, five unfortunate walks and just one hit, the Monmouth Scots scored seven times on the Vikings, all in the second inning.
In the first game, the Vikings had nine hits to Monmouth’s seven. Robert Rashid and Phil Wisniewski each had two hits, and Michael Baldino had two RBIs.
In the second game against Monmouth, the Scots came out strong and scored six runs in the first inning, almost all of their runs for the game. But Rashid kept the Vikings going with his RBI double to right field to bring Henriques home in the third and his inside-the-park home run in the fifth. Monmouth had one run in the fifth, ending their runs at seven.
In the eighth, the Vikings gave it their all and almost brought the game to a tie, but they fell just short. Alex Brewer doubled down the left field line, bringing Chad Skaer home to begin the Viking’s near comeback. Sophomore Davide Harris scored the next run when Wisniewski hit and reached first with the help of a fielding error by Monmouth’s third baseman. Baldino doubled to left field, bringing both Wisniewski and Brewer across home plate. Bases were loaded with one out, but the Scots had a double play to end the inning. Four runs were scored, bringing the score to 7-6, a disappointing loss.
Rashid went 3-4 and had two RBIs, Baldino had two hits and two RBIs, and Harris and Marc Linger had two hits apiece.
The Vikings traveled to Beloit April 9 for the opening doubleheader of their Midwest Conference season play. The day resulted in two losses to Beloit, 4-1 and 5-3.
The opening game started off slowly for Lawrence, with Beloit controlling the score. The first run was scored during the third by Beloit and was not followed until the sixth by two additional Beloit runs. After Beloit’s final run during the seventh inning, the Vikings responded with a run of their own during the eighth. Luke Barthelmess hit a ball out to centerfield, bringing Wisniewski home to score the only run of the game.
In the second game, Lawrence started the scoring with two runs in the third inning. Rashid reached first on an error by the center fielder, allowing Barthelmess and Baldino to reach home. Beloit responded with two runs of their own, tying the score at 2-2.
Beloit continued to score, with runs in the fourth and two in the sixth, bringing the score to 5-2 at the bottom of the sixth. Brewer had an RBI in the seventh, scoring Wisniewski, creating the final score of 5-3.
Lawrence had almost twice as many hits as Beloit (9-5), but it just was not enough. When asked about the team’s performance, Lawrence’s starting third baseman Wisniewski said, “We were right there in both games, just a few timely hits away from winning [them]. All the pitchers threw great to keep us in the game, and if we keep it up we will win a lot of conference games this year.”
Due to the severe weather, including tornado warnings, the Sunday doubleheader between Lawrence University and Beloit College was rescheduled for Tuesday, April 12.