RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's baseball team sent fans home happy on Senior Day Thursday afternoon, as the Red Hawks won their final home game of the 2021 season in walk-off fashion. Nick Tenny delivered a no-out single in the bottom of the ninth to score Senior Andrew Betcher from third base, giving Ripon a 7-6 victory. That came on the heels of a 9-7 loss to Lawrence in which the Vikings broke a tie in the top of the ninth inning.

That first game saw Lawrence take a 3-0 lead in the second inning before Ripon got on the board with a pair of runs in the fourth. Lawrence then took command of the game with a three-run fifth, before pushing another runner across the plate in the sixth. Ripon added three runs on four hits in the bottom of that inning, scoring on an RBI double from Keegan Johnston and a pair of run-scoring singles by Jake Cedar and Owen Greene. 

Trailing 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, Tenny tied the game with a two-run single up the middle. That tie would be short-lived however, as Lawrence delivered a two-run single of their own with two outs in the top of the ninth for the go-ahead runs.

Tenny led Ripon with a game-high four hits in five at-bats, which made up nearly half of the Red Hawks' base knocks. Brice Swick and Andrew Kurcz each struck out three batters on the mound.

Game two saw little action until the final three innings, which saw 12 of the game's 13 combined runs cross the plate. Ripon took the first lead of the game when Johnston delivered an RBI single to center field. Neither team would score again until the top of the seventh when Lawrence scored three runs on four hits. Ripon tied the score with two runs in the bottom of that frame, scoring on an error and another RBI single by Johnston.

The back-and-forth game continued in the eighth when Lawrence took a 5-3 advantage with a pair of runs. Ripon then tied it once more on a two-run double by Jake Pankratz in the bottom of the eighth, which was followed by a bases loaded hit-by-pitch, giving Ripon the lead once more. Lawrence then tied it again on a sac fly in the ninth, before Ripon ended the game with Tenny's heroics.

Ripon out-hit Lawrence 11-10 in the second game, with Tenny, Johnston, Betcher and Nick Terrell each recording two hits, while Betcher scored a game-high three runs, including the game-winner. Pankratz earned the win on the mound, allowing one earned run despite not allowing a hit in one inning of relief. That followed a start by Hunter Thompson, which saw him allow two earned runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings, while striking out four.