St. Norbert Splits at Ripon

From Sports Information Director, April 27, 2013 | Baseball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

RIPON - St. Norbert College split a doubleheader with Ripon College, winning the opener 11-5 before losing 16-6 in the nightcap in Midwest Conference action at Francis Field.

The Green Knights (20-8, 8-2 MWC) never trailed in the opener, scoring two runs in the first inning on RBI singles by Chad Ljunggren and Nick Pierre. St. Norbert added two more runs in the third inning on singles by Travis Mason and a groundout by Pierre.

Ripon (15-11, 11-1 MWC) added a run in the bottom of the sixth, but St. Norbert scored four runs in the top of the seventh for a 9-1 lead. Troy Rottier, Ljunggren, Pierre and Carlos Rodriguez all had RBI singles in the inning, with St. Norbert registering six hits.

The Red Hawks scored four times in the bottom of the seventh, but St. Norbert scored in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Jose Godinez and an RBI double by Rodriguez in the ninth inning to seal the win.

St. Norbert had 16 hits in the opener, with Rottier going 4-for-5 wtih three runs scored. Godinez was 3-for-4, while Pierre was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Ljunggren and Rodriguez each had two hits and two RBIs.

Kevin Nutley earned the win, going 6 1/3 innings allowing five hits, five runs, six walks and two strikeouts. Nate Schadrie finished with 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief.

Ripon took a 4-1 lead in the first inning after a grand slam by Nick Schmitt, and the Red Hawks, leading 6-3, put the game away with a 10-run fifth inning.

Rottier and Pierre were both 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Brandon Kozinski was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Matt Freeman took the loss, allowing eight hits for nine runs along with five walks in four-plus innings.