RIPON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University baseball team rallied in the ninth inning Thursday to win the opener and went on to a Midwest Conference doubleheader split with Ripon College at Francis Field.
    Lawrence took the first game 9-7, and Ripon got a run in the bottom of the ninth to win the nightcap 7-6.
    In the first game, Lawrence's Jacob Charon went 3-for-5 with two triples and a double and drove in five runs. Mitchell Sandleback also went 3-for-5 for the Vikings, and Quinn Berglin was 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs. Berglin also pitched the final two innings to pick up the victory.
    Lawrence pulled ahead in the top of the ninth after RIpon had tied the game at 7-7 in the bottom of the eighth. Colin Wieska led off the ninth with a single, and Sandleback followed with a single. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up 90 feet, Ripon got a groundout and the runners were forced to hold.
    Ethan Plantz then dumped a single into center field and both runners came around to score for a 9-7 Lawrence lead. Berglin worked around a walk and a hit batsman and struck out the side in the ninth to get the win.
    Lawrence (13-19, 6-16 MWC) got on the board in the first when Charon tripled to score Zach Leslie and Berglin for a 2-0 lead. Lawrence added a run in the third without a hit for a 3-0 edge.
    Ripon (8-27, 4-18) trimmed the lead to 3-2 in the fourth, but the Vikings struck for three runs in the fifth. Spenser Ross started the inning with a walk, and Berglin followed with a single. Charon later tripled to score both runners for a 5-2 lead, and Charon then scored on a wild pitch for a 6-2 advantage.
    The Vikings added another run in the sixth when Ross walked and later came around to score on Charon's double for a 7-2 lead.
    Ripon then scored three in the sixth and two in the eighth to tie it before the Vikings won it in the ninth.
    In the second game, Clayton Agler went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored for the Vikings. Charon went 2-for-3 with a triple, a run scored and a run driven in. Wieska also went 2-for-3, scored a run and drove in a run.
    Lawrence trailed 1-0 before scoring three times in the seventh. Leslie started the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Agler then singled to score Leslie and the game was tied. Wieska then singled to score Agler to give Lawrence a 2-1 lead, and Wieska moved to second on an error. After a wild pitch put Wieska at third, he scored on Sandleback's bunt single for a 3-1 lead.
    Ripon tied it with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Lawrence grabbed the lead back with two in the top of the eighth. Charon belted another triple to score Leslie, and Agler followed with a double to score Charon for a 5-3 lead.
    After Ripon scored three in the bottom of the eighth to lead 6-5, the Vikings struck back in the top of the ninth. Elden Santana was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Sandleback followed with a walk. The Vikings tried to move both runners up with a sacrifice bunt, but RIpon forced Santana out at third. However, some heads-up baserunning allowed Sandleback to move to third when no one was covering the base. Ross' sacrifice fly then scored Sandleback and the game was tied 6-6.
    Ripon then got a pair of singles in the bottom of the ninth to score the winning run.
    Lawrence got a great starting effort from Jonah Palmer, who allowed seven hits and just one earned run over seven innings. He struck out six and walked four.
    Lawrence wraps up its season Saturday when it hosts Ripon for a noon doubleheader at Whiting Field.