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APPLETON, Wis. - Ripon put themselves in position to control their own destiny for a conference championship by sweeping a pair of games at Lawrence University on Wednesday. The Red Hawks defeated the Vikings 9-1 and 7-6 to move to 5-1 in conference play, meaning with a sweep of Carroll on Saturday, Ripon would wrap up their third North Division Title in the last five years.
Ripon (14-10, 5-1) began Wednesday's doubleheader with a bang, scoring five runs in the first inning. The first five batters of the game reached base, including RBI hits from Jackie Reichhart and Andrea Knorr.
Lawrence (7-14, 1-5) added a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single, but the Red Hawks would continue to pour it on in the next few innings. Natalie Geenen added to the lead with her sixth home run of the season to lead off the second inning, while Abby Richeson drove in two more runs in the third with her second homer of the year, which put Ripon up 8-1.
Geenen led all players with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate, while also scoring two runs. Jessica Goudreau also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 at the dish. Knorr earned the win, pitching a five-inning complete game, allowing one run, while striking out five.
The second game was sloppily played on both sides, with 15 combined errors in the game. After two scoreless innings, Lawrence got on the board first with two runs in the third, scoring on a wild pitch and a Red Hawk error. Ripon matched that with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, with both runs scoring on errors, four of which were made in the inning.
The Vikings broke the tie in the sixth innings, with four runs, looking as if they would get the victory. Their runs crossed the plate on a two-run home run, an RBI single, and a Ripon error.
The Red Hawks entered the bottom of the seventh still trailing 6-2, when their bats began to get hot. The first five Ripon batters reached base, including an RBI double from Krista Shafer, an RBI single by Goudreau, and a Bethany Mehlberg single, which scored two runs, tying the game at six. The next two Ripon batters recorded outs, when Kylie Ainslie came to the plate with the potential winning run on second. She promptly drove in that run with a single to left field, giving Ripon a much needed conference victory.
Ainslie, Mehlberg, and Geenen each had two hits to lead the Red Hawks, while Goudreau led all players with two runs scored. Knorr (10-6) came on in relief to get her second win of the day.
Ripon will host Carroll at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at Tracy Field in the final conference doubleheader of the season. Whichever team sweeps the series will move on to the postseason tournament. Should the teams split the twin bill, Ripon would still advance to the MWC Tournament, which will be played at the MWC South Division champion.
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