TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Lawrence University softball team opened its season with a pair of nonconference victories on Saturday.
The Vikings (2-0) beat Schreiner University 3-2 and then downed Kalamazoo College 9-1 in five innings.
Catherine Marinac was stellar against Schreiner and threw a pair of scoreless innings against Kalamazoo. Meredith Foshag worked three innings to get the win against Kalamazoo.
Jenna Reichel and Carli Gurholt paced Lawrence's attack with four hits apiece on the day. Reichel went 3-for-4 with two run scored against Schreiner, and Gurholt was 3-for-4 with three RBIs against Kalamazoo.
The Vikings struck first against Schreiner when Reichel singled and later scored on Gurholt's ground out in the opening inning. The Vikings made it 2-0 in the third when Reichel singled and scored on Alex Goodson's double. Lawrence took a 3-0 lead in the fourth when Megan Butterbrodt singled and later scored on Reichel's single.
That would be enough offense to support Marinac, who allowed single runs in the fifth and seventh. Schreiner had the tying run on base in the seventh, but Marinac forced a popup to get out of the jam.
Lawrence avoided any drama against Kalamazoo by scoring six times in the bottom of the first. Gurholt blasted a two-run homer to put Lawrence up 3-0 and Justine Garbarski, Hillary Cheever, and Meredith Foshag all added run-scoring singles in the inning.
The Vikings added two more runs in the fourth on run-scoring singles from Amanda Hauser and Butterbrodt. Lawrence then forceed the game to an early end by the eight-run rule on Gurholt's RBI double in the bottom of the fifth.
Lawrence returns to action on Sunday with St. Joseph's (N.Y.) College and Simon Frasier University.