Green Knights Make History in Split With UW-Platteville

From Sports Information Director, April 14, 2009 | Baseball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

PLATTEVILLE - St. Norbert College's baseball team achieved a first in the 52-year history of the program when it split a non-conference doubleheader with UW-Platteville at Kendall Murry Field.

The Green Knights took the opener 6-3, marking the first time the baseball program has ever beaten three different Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes in the same season. St. Norbert, which lost the nightcap to the Pioneers 13-5, beat UW-Stevens Point 6-1 on March 28 and UW-Oshkosh 5-4 on April 4.

St. Norbert (13-7) started quickly in the opener, scoring five runs in the first three innings. Cory Fuller and Jordan Vater had two-out run-scoring singles in the first inning, and Tony Jandron had a two-run single with two outs in the second inning. Jordan Powers plated Ryan Kehl with a two-out single of his own in the third.

Platteville (13-11) had a three-run rally in the sixth, getting a two run home run from Derrick Rice and an unearned run on a two-out error. St. Norbert got the run back in the top of the seventh when Fuller reached on an error and was sacrificed to second by Vater. Fuller promptly stole third and scored on a groundout by Garrick Fisher. The Pioneers loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh but Jandron coaxed Steve Bomkamp into a groundout to end the game.

Brandon Hintz was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Powers was 2-for-4 to fuel St. Norbert's 10-hit attack.

Justin Wotachek worked the first six innings to improve to 4-1 on the season, allowing three hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Wotachek allowed just one hit in the first five innings.

Platteville jumped on St. Norbert in the nightcap, taking an 11-0 lead after four innings. St. Norbert scored three runs in the fifth when Hintz had a bases-loaded triple, and Kyle Johnsen scored two runs with a single in the sixth. Jared Yost had the only multi-hit game in the nightcap for St. Norbert, going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

Jordan Vater took the loss for St. Norbert, allowing four hits and five runs with two walks and no strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. A menagerie of six St. Norbert pitchers allowed 15 Platteville hits with six walks, and the Green Knights also had four errors.