Green Knights Win Two of Three at MWC Classic

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

WAUKEGAN, Ill. - St. Norbert College won two of three games on the first day of the Midwest Conference Classic. The Green Knights fell to Lake Forest College 10-2 before topping Monmouth College 11-2 and Grinnell College 8-0.

Against Lake Forest, the Foresters scored six times in the top of the seventh inning to break open a close game. Morgan Buboltz hit a solo home run in the second inning and Brittany Narges added another solo shot in the seventh for St. Norbert's two runs. The Green Knights had only four hits in the game. Shannen Schmidt took the loss, allowing four runs in 4 2/3 innings pitched.

St. Norbert scored in five of six innings against Monmouth, and held an 8-2 lead after three innings. Steph Brunette scored on a wild pitch in the first inning, followed by an Abby Gildernick RBI double and a two-run double by MacKenzie Hazen.

Buboltz had an RBI single and Brunette scored on an error in the second inning, while Buboltz hammered a two-run double in the third. Brunette had an RBI double in the fifth, and Ashtin Schmechel had a two-run single in the sixth.

Brunette was 4-for-5 against Monmouth and scored three runs. Buboltz was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while Gildernick, Hazen and Schmechel also had two hits apiece. Morgan Rusch got the win, allowing seven hits with no walks and two strikeouts in a complete-game effort.

Brittany Bauknecht hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to give St. Norbert all the runs it would need against Grinnell. The Green Knights added four runs in the fifth on a two-run double by Jessica DeMeuse and an RBI single by Hazen. St. Norbert scored three runs in the sixth inning on three hits and two Grinnell errors.

Brunette was 3-for-4, while DeMeuse was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Narges, Buboltz and Hazen all had two hits apiece. Schmidt got the win, allowing four hits with no walks and three strikeouts in five innings pitched.