The LU men’s baseball team had no trouble whatsoever against Finlandia College this past Saturday at Niehaus Field. The Vikings won the first game 18-0 on a four hit shutout by Vikings ace Aaron Sorenson, and won the second game 13-0 with B.J. Chase two-upping Sorenson, allowing only two hits. The first game started quite uneventfully, with LU getting a sole run in the first inning on an R.J. Rosenthal RBI single. The second inning started the onslaught. The Vikings would score six runs in the second, with the big blow being an Andrew Wong bases-loaded double that scored all three runs. Wong would double in another run in the third, the second run of five in the third. A Brad Hauser solo home run was the only other big shot in a game that had the Vikings exploiting Finlandia’s ten errors.
Sorenson struck out nine batters in his seven innings of work, walking none. All four hits off of him were singles. He moves his record on the year to 2-1 and lowers his ERA to 3.98.
The second game saw the Vikings jump on Finlandia right away. The Vikings scored four runs in the first, two in the second, three in the third, and four in the fourth to cap off the shortened five-inning game. Rosenthal had two RBI doubles in the ballgame for the Vikings and would tie Chris Stievo with three RBIs in the game. Finlandia only committed two errors on defense in the second game, but Vikings pitcher B.J. Chase never let them into the game.
Chase gave up only two hits, a single and a double. He struck out ten in five innings of work, and raised his team-best record to 3-0. His ERA on the season is 1.89, the best of any starting pitcher for the Vikings. The Vikings moved their record to 8-6 on the year, and Finlandia dropped to 0-9. The Vikings’ next game is tomorrow at Ripon College.