APPLETON, Wis. -- A big first inning in both games proved too much to overcome Saturday as the Lawrence University baseball team dropped a Midwest Conference doubleheader to Beloit College at Whiting Field.
   Beloit won the first game 14-3 and the Bucs took the nightcap 11-1.
   In the opener, Lawrence shortstop
Spenser Ross went 4-for-4 and scored a run.
Ethan Plantz went 2-for-3 for the Vikings, and
Luke Miles smacked a double.
   Kaiya Nishino pitched all seven innings to get the win for Beloit (19-3, 14-2 MWC). He gave up 10 hits, struck out four and walked one. Five Lawrence pitchers allowed 14 hits, walked eight and hit four batters.
   The Bucs scored four times in the top of the first on just two hits to grab the lead. Lawrence (12-16, 5-13) got one run back in the second when
Zach Leslie singled and came around to score. The Vikings let Nishino slip off the hook as they left the bases loaded.
   Beloit added two runs in the third and two more in the fourth to pull out to an 8-1 lead. Lawrence sliced the lead to 8-3 in the sixth when
Quinn Berglin singled to score Ross, and Leslie added a run-scoring groundout to score
Jacob Charon.
   The Bucs then put the game away with six runs in the seventh on just five hits.
   In game two, pitcher Tommy Murray allowed just four hits over seven inning to get the win for Beloit.
   Beloit struck for five runs in the first on just four hits, the big blow being Brett Kiger's three-run double. The Bucs added a run in the fifth and five more in the seventh.
   Lawrence's lone run came on Berglin's homer as he hit the first pitch from Murray in the seventh over the left field fence.
Colin Wieska was the only Lawrence player with multiple hits as he went 2-for-3 with a double.
   The most effective pitching performance for the Vikings came from reliever
Nick Guzzo, who allowed just one run over four innings, struck out two and walked one. He kept the Vikings within striking distance through the middle innings.
   The teams wrap up the four-game set on Sunday when the Vikings travel to Beloit.