APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University baseball team got a pair of standout pitching performances, and that allowed the Vikings to gain a split of a nonconference doubleheader with UW-La Crosse at Fox Cities Stadium.
Lawrence starter Chris Clouthier went 6 2/3 innings to earn a 5-2 victory in the opener, and Kevin Kangas tossed six innings of one-hit ball but La Crosse picked up a 3-0 win in the nightcap.
Clouthier, who improved to 2-2, allowed five hits, struck out one and walked three. Lawrence (2-11) staked Clouthier to a 1-0 lead in the third when Bryan Rosen singled to drive in Evan Neuens.
The Vikings put some distance between themselves and La Crosse (12-9) with three runs in the fourth. Billy Bodle singled to drive in Frank Forseth, who had drawn a one-out walk and moved to second on Hawk Haiduke's single. Tommy Schmidt then tripled to the gap in rightcenter to score two more and give Lawrence a 4-0 lead.
Lawrence added a run in the sixth when Schmidt's sacrifice fly scored Haiduke to make it 5-0.
The Eagles got to Clouthier in the seventh and loaded the bases on an error and a pair of walks. Joey Casper's groundout scored a run, and Andy Podmolik's infield single scored another to make it 5-2. Luke Kostreva came on in relief of Clouthier and threw two pitches, getting a groundout to end the game and pick up the first save of his career.
In the nightcap, Kangas went six-plus innings, allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked four.
Four La Crosse pitchers scattered seven hits for the shutout. Gavin Scray pitched the fourth inning to get the win and improve to 2-0 on the season.
La Crosse took a 1-0 lead in the fourth without a hit. The Eagles had one out and a runner at first when Storm Gram stole second. Kangas then struck out Greg Gibson on a breaking ball in the dirt that bounded away and allowed Gibson to reach first. Gram moved to third on the play, and the Eagles then executed a double steal and Gram scored to make it 1-0.
The Eagles put the game away with two runs in the seventh. Adam Hughes doubled and scored on an error, and Tyler Peterson then delivered a run-scoring single to make it 3-0.
The Vikings stranded eight runners, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and two runners on in the seventh.
Lawrence returns to action on Sunday when it takes on Finlandia in a nonconference doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. at Don Hawkins Field.