RANTOUL, Ill. -- Taylor Freeman tied the Lawrence University game record with three home runs Saturday in a 21-5 nonconference victory over the University of Olivet at the Rantoul Sports Complex.
    Freeman went 4-for-4 with three homers and a double, scored four runs and drove in a half-dozen. Freeman tied the record held by Edan Perez (2023), Kevin Fitzsimmons (2006), Elliot Stith (1994) and Steve Blomberg (1972). Lawrence (4-1) finished with 20 hits in the game.
    Perez had two hits, including a homer, and drove in four runs for Lawrence. Tate Hartlaub, Parker Knoll, Jacob Charon and Qunn Berglin had two hits apiece for Lawrence. William Zatkowski homered and drove in a pair of runs for the Vikings.
    Nick Katz made the start and improved to 2-0 on the season with five innings of work. Katz scattered 10 hits and allowed two runs while striking out two and walking one. 
    Lawrence chased Olivet starter Bryan Carney after two-plus innings.
    The Vikings scored three in the first with Perez belting a two-run homer and tacked on two more in the second for a 5-0 lead. Lawrence then scored five times in the third. After Charon and William Polanco singled, Freeman smacked a three-run homer. Berglin followed with a single, and Zatkowski smashed a two-run homer for a 10-0 lead. 
    Freeman then led off the fifth with a homer to give the Vikings an 11-1 edge. 
    Lawrence then blew the game wide open with a seven-run seventh inning. Lawrence had just three hits in the inning, including a two-run single from Perez, but Olivet (2-3) committed an error, hit four batters and walked two more in the frame. Once the dust had settled, Lawrence had an 18-2 lead.
    The Vikings added three more runs in the top of the seventh with Freeman leading off the inning with another solo homer. Myles Brincks added a two-run single in the inning to put Lawrence up 21-2.
    Lawrence returns to action against Elmhurst College on Sunday before heading home.