St. Norbert Splits With Ripon

From Sports Information Director, April 24, 2013 | Softball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College finally got to play a game on campus this spring but had to settle for a split in a Midwest Conference doubleheader against Ripon College. The Green Knights dropped the opener 6-4 before taking the nightcap 7-1 at Mel Nicks Field.

St. Norbert (16-12, 7-3 MWC) had a golden opportunity to take control of the Midwest Conference North Division race, carrying a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning of the opener. The Red Hawks (11-15, 5-7) had runners at second and third with one out in the top of the seventh, and a flyout to right field was the second out, and Karisa Simonsen scored on the sacrifice fly to tie the game on a close play at home plate. A wild pitch gave the Red Hawks the lead, and two more singles by Ripon added two more runs to cap off the four-run rally.

The Green Knights took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on Jena Paul's two-run single. Ripon scored once in the fifth to tie the game, but Morgan Buboltz's solo home run in the bottom of the sixth gave St. Norbert a 3-2 lead. Jessica DeMeuse's solo home run in the seventh inning closed out St. Norbert's scoring.

Paul was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, while Buboltz was 2-for-3. St. Norbert mustered six hits off winning pitcher Stephanie Rieuwpassa, who walked two and struck out eight. Shannen Schmidt took the loss, allowing seven hits with three walks and one strikeout.

In the nightcap, Ripon scored once in the top of the first inning but St. Norbert answered in the bottom half with an RBI single by Buboltz. The Green Knights took the lead on an unearned run in the third inning. Jena Paul then smacked her first collegiate home run with a solo shot in the fourth inning for a 3-1 lead.

St. Norbert broke the game open in the fifth inning, scoring four runs on four hits and one Ripon error. Abby Gildernick had an RBI single, and Buboltz scored on a throwing error. DeMeuse tagged an RBI double and JoAnna Ruppa plated DeMeuse with a bunt single.

Morgan Rusch scattered six hits in the complete-game win. She did not walk a batter and struck out two. Buboltz was 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Green Knights, who had 10 hits.