RIPON Wisconsin – The Ripon baseball program did something on Wednesday that, coming into the game, only one team in the Midwest Conference had done so far this season: beat Lawrence.
 
The Red Hawks pushed solo runs across in each of the last four innings, rallying from multiple deficits to defeat the Midwest Conference-leading Vikings 4-3 at Francis Field.
 
With the win, Ripon (13-20, 9-11) is now within one and a half games of Cornell for the fourth and final spot in next week's Midwest Conference Tournament. Ripon has four MWC games left, while the Rams have three.
 
Wednesday marked just the fifth time in 36 games this season that Lawrence (27-9, 17-3 MWC) was held to three runs or less – the first time since March 19 and the first time in Midwest Conference play.
 
After a scoreless first three and a half innings, Lawrence struck first in the top of the fourth. With two outs, a Ripon error on a pop fly allowed the first run of the game to cross home.
 
Ripon tied the game up in the bottom of the fifth. After Jack Anderson reached on a fielding error and Brock Peterson bunted him over, Owen Gerhardt singled home Anderson to breathe some life back into the Red Hawk offense.
 
Lawrence went up 3-1 in the next half inning, however. With one out, a walk followed by back-to-back doubles put the Vikings in front, though it would be the last runs of the day for an offense that is fifth in the country in slugging percentage and top-25 nationally in runs (19th) and batting average (21st).
 
The Red Hawks cut their two-run deficit in half in the sixth. After Nick Terrell was hit by a pitch and Kyler Hickman doubled to open the inning, Nick Tenny produced a run on an RBI groundout, though Ripon left runners at the corners to end the frame.
 
Ripon again tied it up in the seventh after a host of impressive at-bats. After Kaleb Burns had a sacrifice bunt and moved runners to second and third, Hickman walked to load the bases with two outs. Tenny then grinded out a tough at-bat, drawing a bases-loaded walk on a full count. Ripon left the bases loaded in the seventh, but tied the game up and set the stage for a wild two innings.
 
Lawrence showed signs of life in the eighth, loading the bases with one out. However, Orion Rieden struck out the last two batters of the inning – including the last out on a 3-2 count – to send the crowd into a frenzy and keep the score tied.
 
The Red Hawks pushed ahead for good in the bottom half of the eighth. After Anderson walked to lead off the inning, Ian Plaster had a pinch-hit, sacrifice bunt to move pinch runner Julian Fulwiler into scoring position. Fulwiler then advanced to third on a balk and scored on a wild pitch, giving the Red Hawks the go-ahead (and winning) run.
 
The Vikings put the tying run on base in the ninth, but a double play and lineout ended the game and gave Ripon the much-needed conference win.
 
Ripon had just five hits, but made them count. Hickman led the offense, going 2-for-3 with a walk, while Terrell (1-for-3, run), Tenny (1-for-3, 2 RBI, walk), and Gerhardt (1-for-2, RBI, run, 2 walks) also had base hits.
 
On the mound, Ripon rolled out five pitchers for the second consecutive game. Rieden picked up the win for his efforts, throwing 1.2 innings in relief while surrendering just one hit, while Brock Turkington, Dawson Selvoski, Brett Tetzlaff and Brady Wotruba all pitched effectively as well.
 
NEXT UP: Ripon heads to Illinois for a three-game series at Knox beginning on Saturday, May 4. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 12 p.m.
 
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