RIPON, Wis. - Ripon won both games of Sunday's doubleheader against Lawrence, giving the Red Hawks the edge in the season series for the fourth consecutive season in what was their 16th win in the last 17 meetings between the two teams. Ripon won the first game in walk-off fashion, as
Nick Schmitt's three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th gave them the victory, which was followed by a 10-5 win in which the Red Hawks led for the final seven innings.
Schmitt's blast marks the 19th of his career, which vaults him into a tie for seventh place in Ripon's record book. For a while, it looked as if those heroics wouldn't be needed, as the Red Hawks (6-17, 4-4 MWC North) scored six runs on four hits and two Lawrence errors in the seventh inning to take a 7-3 lead.Â
The Vikings scored twice in the top of the eighth to cut that lead in half, but Ripon answered with two in the bottom of that inning, coming on an sacrifice bunt by
Robbie Schuettpelz and an RBI triple down the left field line off the bat of
Nick Kita.
Lawrence (7-12, 1-3 MWC North) then mounted a comeback in the ninth, scoring four runs on four hits, keyed by a three-run homer from Andrew Lauber with one out to tie the score at nine, setting the stage for Schmitt's 10th inning walk-off.
Ripon finished with 11 hits, with two apiece coming from Kita, Schuettpelz and
Isiah Ramos. Schmitt and Kita each finished with a team-high three RBI.
Brian Wilson (1-0) earned the victory in relief, pitching 1.2 innings of hitless ball.
Lawrence was led by Travis Weber, who recorded four of the team's 14 hits, finishing a single shy of the cycle, but connecting on a pair of home runs. Lauber and Brandon Klar each added three hits. Dan Rothbauer (0-3) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on two hits in 1.1 innings of work.
The second game saw Lawrence score once in both the first and second inning, but Ripon tied things up with two in the bottom of the second on a
Nick Taranto sac fly and a bases loaded walk issued to Kita. Ripon took their first lead of the contest with a four-run third inning and never looked back. In that frame, the Red Hawks scored twice on a throwing error, once on a wild pitch and another time on a double from Schuettpelz. The Red Hawks added two more runs in the fourth on
Josh Oswald's third home run of the season, and added two more the following inning on
Randy Finger's second homer of the year.
Oswald and Finger combined for half of Ripon's 10 hits, while Finger also scored four times.
Brice Swick (1-4) earned his first collegiate victory, allowing three runs on eight hits in five innings, while striking out five.
Lawrence finished the second game with 14 hits, with six different players recording two base knocks. Cullen Ellis (0-3) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on two hits in two innings of work.
The Red Hawks will be back on the field Tuesday when they'll travel up the road to UW-Oshkosh for a single game at 4 p.m. LiveStats will be available for that contest atÂ
http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/LiveStats/Baseball/xlive.htm.
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