After dropping three games in as many days over the weekend, Lawrence High baseball coach Brad Stoll was relieved to be back on the winning side Tuesday.

Outside one inning, the Lions were flawless in all aspects of their 7-5 victory over Shawnee Mission West at LHS. The offense racked up seven runs, including a game-deciding five-spot of their own in the fourth inning. Lawrence did not commit an error defensively, and the bullpen did enough to lock down a win to snap the three-game skid.

“It feels good to do it against a quality team and a well-coached team,” Stoll said. “We played a very clean game. They put up a five-spot, but there is some good bats in that lineup.”

The Lions (6-8) claimed their first advantage since April 17 on an RBI groundout by senior Braden Solko in the home half of the first. But the way the inning had started, LHS looked poised to do much more damage.

Junios Andrew Stewart and Reese Carmona each opened the game with a pair of walks on a total of nine pitches before junior Devin Lauts followed suit with a single to load the bases with nobody out.

Vikings’ starter Jace Libal was able to recover and retire the next three batters to avoid more harm.

“That’s frustrating,” Stoll said. “I don’t have a whole lot of hair left, but I’ll lose what I have left when we don’t execute like that. It’s not for a lack of trying, though, the effort is there.”

Lawrence made up for it by adding one more in the third on a triple by Lauts, which scored Carmona, to take a 2-0 advantage.

But then LHS poured it on in the very next inning with five runs off four hits, including a double by Joe Harms and a two-run hit by Carmona. For comparison, the lineup plated just three runs over the past weekend.

“I thought we should have blown it open earlier, we just missed a few balls,” Stoll said. “Then to come up with five in the fourth was huge. That was just some guys stepping in there and not missing a fastball. It was great to see.”

Following the offensive outburst, right-hander Gavin Greenwood served up his own five-spot in the fifth inning off four hits, including a pair of doubles and a home run. Afterward, Greenwood noted that all four hits came off his off-speed pitch.

“I just left a couple change-ups up. That’s what every hit was off of,” Greenwood said. “It’s good to get a win. This weekend was pretty rough, but we got through it.”

Prior to that, Greenwood had pitched a gem. He allowed one hit through the first four innings, and relied heavily on his fastball. He produced eight groundouts and three strikeouts before the fifth and avoided taxing his pitch count.

In fact, Greenwood only had one at-bat that went five-or-more pitches on the evening. His 17-pitch fifth inning was the only frame which took more than 11 total pitches. He did just enough to maintain the lead and have his bullpen – Solko and Austin Quick – finish the job.

“Gavin has been so good for us this year, he will be better next time,” Stoll said. “He pushes the pace and that’s what we love about him. He’s been great for us all year.”

Lawrence will travel to Shawnee Mission East at 4:15 p.m. Thursday.

SM West 000 050 0 — 5 5 1

Lawrence 101 500 x — 7 7 0

W — Gavin Greenwood. L — Jace Libal.

2B — Joe Harms, LHS; Zach Adams, Garrett Pennington, Reese Youngwirth, SMW. 3B – Devin Lauts, LHS. HR – Pennington, SMW.

LHS highlights — Reese Carmona, 2-for-2, 2 RBIs, 2 BBs; Lauts, 2-for-4, RBI; Greenwood, 5 IP, 5 R, 5 H, 3 K, 0 BB.