Green Knights Salvage Split With Slugfest Win

From Sports Information Director, April 14, 2012 | Baseball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College survived a slugfest in the nightcap of a Midwest Conference doubleheader against Beloit College at Mel Nicks Field. The Green Knights claimed a wild 19-15 win following a 10-7 loss in the opener.

The Green Knights (8-9, 1-1 MWC) had a 9-0 lead in the nightcap before watching that evaporate into a 10-9 deficit when Beloit (12-13, 4-2) scored four in the fourth and six in the fifth. St. Norbert answered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 13-10 lead, but Beloit came back with four in the sixth for a 14-13 edge. St. Norbert scored three times in both the sixth and seventh innings to eventually get some breathing room and held on to win by holding the Buccaneers scoreless in the last two innings.

Travis Mason's two-run home run and Chad Ljunggren's two-run single in the first inning gave St. Norbert a 4-0 lead. Garrick Fisher's two-run double in the third inning finished off a five-run uprising for a 9-0 edge.

Beloit stormed back but St. Norbert went ahead 13-10 in the fifth on Chris Hillesheim's key three-run double with two outs and Ljunggren's RBI single. St. Norbert took the lead for good in the sixth, when Mason hit a rare sacrifice fly on a foul-out to the catcher and Jordan Powers scampered home. Fisher had a RBI single and Hillesheim and RBI groundout to finish off the inning.

The Green Knights held a tenuous 16-15 lead in the seventh inning but Beloit grounded into a double play with the bases loaded. Nick Pierre then followed the seventh-inning stretch with a solo home run. Powers scored on a passed ball and Hillesheim had an RBI double.

St. Norbert pounded out 20 hits in the nightcap. Hillesheim was 3-for-6 with five RBIs. Mason was 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Ljunggren was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Matt Hannon also scored four runs while going 2-for-4.

Drew Tangney got the win working an inning of relief. Troy Rottier got the save by twirling two scoreless innings.

In the opener, St. Norbert never recovered from a 6-0 deficit when the Buccaneers put up six runs in the third inning. The Green Knights answered with three runs in the third on a two-run triple from Hannon and a Fisher RBI double. The Green Knights cut it to 8-7 with two in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Mason had an RBI single and Fisher a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Hannon had a two-run single in the sixth.

Hannon was 3-for-5 with four RBIs, while Mason was 2-for-4. Jose Godinez added a 2-for-5 game. Kevin Nutley took the loss for St. Norbert, allowing six runs in 2 2/3 innings.