MOUNT VERNON, Iowa -- The Lawrence University baseball team rode the hot bat of Jacob Charon on Friday en route to a 13-7 Midwest Conference victory over Cornell College at Ash Park.
    Charon went 4-for-5 with a double and drove in five runs as Lawrence took the opening game of the three-game set.
    Taylor Freeman went 2-for-5, scored twice and drove in a run for the Vikings, and Edan Perez smacked a two-run homer, scored twice and drove in three runs.
    Quinn Berglin improved to 5-0 on the season for the Vikings with 6.1 innings of work. Berglin allowed five runs, four earned, on nine hits while striking out five and walking one. 
    Lawrence (12-6, 4-0 MWC) jumped on Cornell in the top of the first when Parker Knoll singled and Perez blasted a two-run homer. The Vikings pushed that lead to 5-0 with three runs in the second. The Vikings loaded the bases on a walk, a bunt single and a hit batsman, and Charon came through with a bases-clearing, three-run double.
    The Vikings picked up two more runs without the benefit of a hit in the third. A walk, another hit batsman and an error put runners at the corners. William Polanco delivered a sacrifice fly to score Tate Hartlaub, and Zach Leslie later scored on a wild pitch for a 7-0 lead.
    After Cornell (9-7, 1-3) scored in the fifth to trim the lead to 7-1, Lawrence scored three more times in the sixth. Two walks and a single loaded the bases, and Perez then drew a bases-loaded walk. Charon followed with a two-run single, and the Vikings led 10-1.
    The Rams rallied with two runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to trim the lead to 10-7 heading to the eighth. Cam Ruth came on to pitch for Lawrence and shut Cornell down in the eighth.
    Lawrence then tacked on three big insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Polanco doubled to start the inning and came in to score on Freeman's ground ball. William Zatkowski later delivered a two-out, two-run single for a 13-7 lead.
    Ruth worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to lock down his first save of the season.
    Lawrence and Cornell wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Saturday.