Green Knights Split on First Day of MWC Tournament

From Sports Information Director, May 8, 2015 | Baseball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GRINNELL, Iowa - St. Norbert College split its first two games at the
Midwest Conference Tournament, topping Grinnell College 11-3 before
falling to Ripon College 13-1.

The Green Knights (20-17) will face Cornell College at 10 a.m. Saturday
in a loser-out game. The winner of that contest will then have to beat
Ripon (22-13) twice later Saturdayto steal the MWC title.

St. Norbert rallied in the last three innings to top Grinnell, the MWC
South Division champion. The Pioneers scored three runs in the bottom
of the sixth inning to take a 3-2 lead. St. Norbert loaded the bases with
no outs on a walk and two bunts. Derek Klegin then drove in a run to tie
the game, followed by a Brandon Kozinski RBI single to give St. Norbert
a 4-3 lead. Troy Rottier then cranked a three-run home run to right-
center field for a 7-3 advantage.

The Green Knights added two runs in the eighth inning on a Spencer
Larson home run and Jason Malkowski RBI single. Larson added a two-
run double in the ninth to close out the scoring.

Kozinski was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, while Larson was 2-for-5 with
three RBIs. Sean Grant was 2-for-4 with there runs scored, including a
solo home run in the fifth inning. Matt Freeman earned a complete-game
win, scattering nine hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

Against Ripon, the Green Knights took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an
RBI single by Tyler Brown. The Red Hawks took control thereafter,
scoring three runs in the third inning and six runs in the fourth inning -
all with two outs. Ripon, which hit five home runs and four doubles, put
the game away with four more runs in the sixth inning.

Tyler Banovich led St. Norbert with two of St. Norbert's four hits. Brett
Nohr took the loss in four innings of work.