APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University baseball team rolled to a 12-7 Midwest Conference win over Carroll University in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader, but the Pioneers rallied to win the nightcap 10-9.
Frank Forseth went seven innings in the opener for Lawrence (9-11, 2-4 MWC) to improve to 4-0 on the season. He struck out eight and walked two.
Wes Otte went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs to pace the Vikings in game one. Jordan Clark, Robert Rashid, Luke Kostreva, and Hawk Haiduke all had two hits for Lawrence. Clark also drove in a game-high three runs.
The Vikings pulled away early, scoring four times in the second to grab a 5-0 lead. The big blow in the second was Clark's two-run double.
Lawrence led 5-2 when the Vikings scored five times in the bottom of the fifth. Kostreva and Eric Bohling both had run-scoring hits in the inning.
The Vikings added runs in the seventh and eighth to seal the victory.
Carroll (7-15, 1-9) scored three times in the top of the first to jump on top in the second game. The Vikings cut the lead to 3-2 after one and then scored four times in the second to take the lead. Otte and Andy Frelich both had two-run singles in the second.
The Vikings led 7-3 before Carroll scored three times in the top of the seventh against Kostreva, who had come on in relief of Frelich. Chris Elliott hit a two-run homer in the inning for the Pioneers.
Nick Pedretti had a run-scoring double in the seventh, and the Vikings scored an unearned run in the eighth to build the lead back to 9-6.
The Pioneers then rallied in the ninth against Ben Konetzke. Andy Sturtevant had a run-scoring single to cut the lead to 9-7. The Pioneers had two runners aboard when Aaron Leitner came in to face Matt Holman, who tripled past a diving Otte to score both runners and tie the game at 9-9. Matt Eschenbauch then singled to score Holman and put Carroll up 10-9.
Kostreva doubled to start the bottom of the ninth for Lawrence, and pinch-runner Zach Hintz moved to third on a fly ball with one out. Haiduke then flied out, and Clark was called out on a bang-bang play at first to end the game.
Rashid went 3-for-4 in the nightcap to pace Lawrence, and Frelich had two hit and drove in three runs. Otte and Pedretti also had two hits for the Vikings.
The teams will play a doubleheader at Carroll on Saturday to wrap up the series.