Green Knights Finish MWC Crossover Unblemished

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, April 23, 2017 | Baseball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

MAUSTON - St. Norbert College finished the inaugural Midwest Conference Crossover a perfect 5-0 after wins of 9-6 over Grinnell College and 5-2 over Cornell College at Woodside Sports Complex.

The Green Knights (21-8, 11-2 MWC North) also clinched a berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament for the 19th time in the last 22 seasons with the pair of wins. St. Norbert can clinch the MWC North Division title with one more win in its last four league games.

St. Norbert wasted little time getting the jump on Grinnell, scoring three times in the first inning. Hunter Larson had an RBI double, followed by an RBI single by Tyler Banovich. Banovich later scored on a wild pitch.

Grinnell scored in the third inning but St. Norbert got the run back when Jacob Raeder tripled and later scored on Griffin Jack's groundout. The Green Knights added to their lead when Robbie Dombrowski had a two-run single in the fifth inning for a 6-1 lead.

St. Norbert led 9-1 after three runs scored in the seventh inning. Banovich had an RBI triple, followed by an RBI single by Raeder. Jason Malkowski also had a run-scoring single.

Grinnell made it interesting with five runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by a Matt Galanek grand slam, but the Pioneers would get no closer than the final score.

Banovich was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Raeder was 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Dombrowski and Larson were both had two hits apiece.

Carson Jacques got the win, scattering 15 hits in 7 2/3 innings with no walks and five strikeouts. Grayson Madey got the last four outs for his first career save.

Against Cornell, the Green Knights left 15 runners on base but prevailed over the Rams in a hotly contested game against crossover unbeatens.

Cornell scored two runs on three hits in the top of the third inning for a 2-0 lead, but Banovich's single in the bottom of the frame halved the Green Knights' deficit. St. Norbert pushed ahead with two runs in the fifth inning on two hits and a pair of Cornell errors. Sean Ferraro drove in a run on a groundout and Derek Klegin's single put St. Norbert up 3-2.

The Green Knights scored a pair of valuable insurance runs in the eight inning on a Dombrowski single and a sacrifice fly by Malkowski.

Klegin was 5-for-5, the first St. Norbert player to get five hits in a game since Sean Grant in 2015. Raeder and Dombrowski also had two hits apiece.

Tyler Rouze twirled a complete game for the Green Knights, yielding just six hits with three walks and four strikeouts.