RANTOUL, Ill. -- The Lawrence University baseball team opened its season Saturday with a nonconference doubleheader sweep of Wisconsin Lutheran College at the Rantoul Family Sports Complex.
    The Vikings won the opener 13-5 and held off the Warriors for a 5-4 victory in the nightcap.
    In the first game, Jacob Charon blasted a pair of homers for the Vikings, and Lawrence took advantage of 17 walks by the Wisconsin Lutheran pitching staff.
    Charon went 2-for-6, scored twice and drove in five runs, and Spenser Ross, Jeffery Cambra, Quinn Berglin and Zach Leslie all drove in two runs for the Vikings.
    Jonah Palmer worked four innings in relief, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three and walking two, to get the victory. Jordan Schaefer allowed one run over the final three innings, striking out five without issuing a walk, to pick up the save.
    Wisconsin Lutheran led 2-0 before Lawrence struck for five runs in the bottom of the second. With two outs and the bases empty, Wisconsin Lutheran starter Andrew Muffler issued six consecutive walks to hand the Vikings a 3-2 lead. Tyler Danko came on in relief, and Leslie greeted him with a two-run single to score Cambra and Ross for a 5-2 lead.
    After Wisconsin Lutheran trimmed the lead to 5-4, the Vikings struck for three runs in the fourth. Leslie was hit by a pitch with one out, and Taylor Freeman followed with a single. Charon then blasted a three-run homer to left, and the Vikings led 8-4.
    Lawrence then put the game away with four runs in the sixth. Freeman was hit by a pitch with one out, and Charon then belted a two-run homer to put the Vikings up 10-4. The inning continued as Jake Land singled, Mitchell Sandleback walked and Parker Knoll followed with a single to load the bases. A sacrifice fly from Spenser Ross and a bases-loaded walk to Berglin pushed the lead to 12-4.
    The Vikings tacked on a run in the eighth on Cambra's run-scoring groundout to finish the scoring.
    In the nightcap, the Vikings built a 5-2 lead after eight innings but had to put down a Wisconsin Lutheran rally in the ninth.
    Cambra went 2-for-4 and Sandleback homered and drove in two runs to pace the Vikings. Rookie Cam Ruth pitched one inning of relief to earn his first collegiate victory. Fellow rookie Richie LaCien worked the final two innings to get his first collegiate save.
    Lawrence jumped on top with three runs in the top of the third. Knoll started the rally with a walk and stole second. He scored on Ross' single to give Lawrence a 1-0 lead. Cambra reached on an error, and Berglin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Edan Perez's groundout scored Ross, and a passed ball then scored Cambra for a 3-0 edge.
    Wisconsin Lutheran got a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Vikings added two more runs in the eighth. Charon walked to start the rally, and Sandleback smashed a two-run homer to left for a 5-2 lead.
    The Warriors led off the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back solo homers, but LaCien got a strikeout, groundout and popup to end the game.
    Lawrence returns to action on March 19 when the Vikings open their spring break trip in Florida.