APPLETON, Wisconsin – The Ripon baseball program dropped a pair of Midwest Conference games to league-leading Lawrence on Wednesday afternoon at Don Hawkins Field.
Lawrence (19-6, 11-0 MWC) topped Ripon (6-13, 3-5 MWC) 24-4 in seven innings in the first game and followed that up with a 13-3, eight-inning victory in the nightcap.
Ripon put pressure on the defense to begin the afternoon, drawing first blood in game one. After
Kaleb Burns singled and
Nick Tenny moved him over, Burns advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Nick Terrell reached base on a throwing error, scoring Burns and allowing the Red Hawks to grab an early 1-0 lead.
Lawrence, top-30 nationally in six different offensive categories, got to work right away in the bottom of the first. A pair of two-run homers, sandwiched around an RBI sacrifice bunt, put the hosts up 5-1 after the opening frame. Three more runs, all on extra-base hits, crossed the plate in the bottom of the second and another eight runs in the third – with the help of a grand slam and a bases-clearing double – put Lawrence in total control through just three innings.
Ripon got the offense going in the top of the fifth. Three walks and two hit batters brought home a pair of runs for Ripon before an out was recorded. However, the bases were left loaded in the inning.
David Kleier doubled home
Brock Peterson in the top of the seventh for the first RBI of his career, but the Red Hawks dropped the opening game of the day.
Burns (1-for-1, RBI, run, 2 walks), Peterson (1-for-2, run), Kleier (1-for-1, RBI) and
Kyler Hickman (1-for-1, run, walk) all had hits for Ripon.
On the mound,
Mitchell Lukasik got the start and took the loss, throwing two innings and yielding six hits with eight earned runs.
In the nightcap, five Lawrence runs were scored in the first two innings by a bases loaded walk, a two-run double and a two-run homer. Ripon rallied in the top of the third to draw closer, however. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Terrell singled home
Alex Pankratz while Burns also scored on a fielding error to keep the line moving. After a pair of stolen bases,
Jack Anderson produced a run on a groundout as Ripon trailed 5-3 through two and a half innings.
Unfortunately, that would be all the offense would muster the remainder of the game. The Vikings tacked on a single run in the third, four runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to win via run rule.
Pankratz (2-for-4, run) and Terrell (2-for-3, RBI, walk) each led Ripon with multi-hit games, while Burns (1-for-2, run, walk) and Hickman (1-for-4) added base knocks.
Brady Wotruba took the loss on the mound, tossing 5.0 innings of five-hit ball, though he gave up six earned runs. He also struck out five.
NEXT UP: Ripon hosts Cornell on Saturday (April 13) for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
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