RIPON, Wis. - Two weeks after splitting a doubleheader with Lawrence, the two teams split another twinbill Wednesday afternoon. The Red Hawks took the first game 11-7 behind 10 unearned runs, including a nine-run second inning, while Lawrence prevailed in the nightcap by a score of 13-4.

In the day's first game, Lawrence struck first with an RBI double by Matthew Holliday in the top of the first. Ripon answered with a run of their own in the bottom of that inning, as Tyler Nelson scored on a groundout.

The Red Hawks then busted the game wide open in the second frame, scoring nine runs on three hits, while being assisted by two Lawrence errors. The two big blows came off the bat of Nick Taranto and Keegan Johnston. Taranto connected on a bases-loaded double, which cleared the bases, while Johnston hit a towering three-run homer for his first long-ball of the year. Ripon's other three runs in the inning came on an error, a wild pitch, and a stolen base.

After Lawrence scored a run in the top of the third, Ripon answered with a run of their own thanks to an RBI single to center by Michael Barnes to give the Red Hawks an 11-2 lead. The Vikings would score five more times, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome Ripon's big lead.

Ripon finished with 10 hits in the game, led by Taranto's 3-for-5 performance at the plate, improving his batting average to .430 on the season. Tyler Nelson also had three hits, while also scoring three runs. Brian Brown (2-4) earned the win, allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings of work, while recording a career-high eight strikeouts.

In game two, it was Lawrence who jumped out to a big lead. After scoring two runs in the top of the second, the Vikings added four more in the third before Ripon got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the third. Ripon's first run came on an RBI groundout, while their second came on an RBI single up the middle by Taranto. 

Lawrence put the game out of reach by scoring once in both the fifth and sixth, twice in the seventh, and three more times in the eighth to take a 13-2 lead. Ripon would score twice more in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Hector Aguinaga and a bases-loaded walk, but it was not enough.

Ripon allowed 18 hits in the game, while recording 11 themselves. Four Red Hawks notched two hits in the contest, with Nelson, Barnes, Taranto, and Riley Erickson doing the honors.

The Red Hawks will be back in action Thursday when they'll host Wisconsin Lutheran for a single non-conference game at 4 p.m. from Francis Field in Ripon. There will be a webcast available of that contest, along with LiveStats at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.