The LU softball team stole two from first-place Ripon on Wednesday to jettison itself into second place in the MWC north. Senior pitcher Lauren Kost picked up both wins. Clutch hitting came from Greta Raaen and Justine Garbarski, who both had two RBIs. Faye Eaton also added four hits for the day.
The Vikes also went 2-3 last weekend at the Midwest Conference Classic in Janesville. The event, hosted by Beloit College, featured all 10 teams from the Midwest conference. Each South Division team played five games against teams from the North Division and vice versa.
Saturday saw the Vikings lose three close games to the top three teams from the South Division: Knox, Illinois College and Lake Forest.
Lawrence fared much better on Sunday. Lauren Kost pitched a three-hit complete-game shutout as the Vikings scored three in the sixth to defeat Monmouth College 3-0. Kost continued her dominance as the Vikings beat Grinnell 2-1 in extra innings. She also scored the winning run in the eighth inning. Combined, Kost was 2-0 on the day, allowing 10 hits and just one earned run over the course of the two days. She didn’t walk any batters and struck out eight, and also went one for four from the plate and batted in a runner before scoring the winning run against Grinnell.
The Vikings return home this weekend for a game against Finlandia University on Saturday and host the Green Knights of St. Norbert on Tuesday.