Viking Softball makes Ripon wish for rain

Junior Jenny Burris is leading the Vikings in batting average, hits, home runs, slugging percentage, doubles, stolen bases, and RBIs.
Andy York

Junior Jenny Burris is leading the Vikings in batting average, hits, home runs, slugging percentage, doubles, stolen bases, and RBIs. (James Estes)

Last Tuesday, the Lawrence University Softball team and Ripon College Redhawks finally got their doubleheader in without the threat of rain. The Redhawks now wish it would have kept raining. The Vikings swept the doubleheader, winning 8-2 in the first game and 1-0 in eight innings in the second.

The first game saw the Vikings jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the first five and a half innings. The Redhawks added two runs in the last two innings, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop the Vikings from cruising to the victory.

Lauren Kost pitched all seven innings with two strikeouts. Shannon Arndt led the Vikings on the offensive end. She went three for three with a run scored.

The big hit of the game was a bases-clearing three-RBI double by Erin Mommerts in the fifth inning. That put the Vikings on top 4-0 and with the two more runs the Vikings would add that inning ended any hope of a Ripon comeback.

The second game was a pitchers’ duel. Amy Varda allowed six hits and struck out three in eight innings, while her Ripon counterpart Amanda Guay allowed five hits and struck out seven.

Guay, however, also gave up the game’s only run in the bottom of the eighth inning. The only run of the game involved Arndt and Mommerts again. Arndt led off the eighth inning with a single, and advanced to second on Jenny Burris’ sacrifice bunt.

Mommerts stepped up and singled, knocking in Arndt and giving the Vikings a key 1-0 win. The Vikings are now in second place in the MWC Northern Division, with the top two teams advancing to the MWC Tournament next weekend.

The Vikings will wrap up the MWC regular season this weekend with a doubleheader at Beloit. The first game will start at 1:00 p.m.