Jandron Drives In 11 Runs as St. Norbert Rebounds to Sweep Ripon

From Sports Information Director, April 29, 2009 | Baseball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

GREEN BAY - St. Norbert College junior Tony Jandron drove in 11 runs to key the Green Knights to an important sweep of Ripon College in a Midwest Conference doubleheader by scores of 14-11 and 5-1 at Joannes Stadium.

The pair of wins moved St. Norbert back into first place in the MWC North Division's loss column. The Green Knights are 8-4 in the league and 17-11 overall entering this weekend's four-game series with Lawrence University. Ripon is 14-14, 7-5 in the MWC entering its series with Carroll University. Beloit ended the league schedule 11-5. The top two teams in the division qualify for the conference tournament.

Jandron drove in eight runs in the opener and was also the winning pitcher as the Green Knights outlasted the Red Hawks in a slugfest. Jandron was 3-for-4 with three runs scored with a home run. Jandron worked 7 1/3 innings allowing seven hits, six walks and seven strikeouts. In the nightcap, Jandron was 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and also turned in several sparkling defensive plays at shortstop.

In the opener, Ripon scored three unearned runs in the top of the first before St. Norbert charged back with four in the first and three in the second. Jared Yost had an RBI double, followed by a Jandron sacrifice fly. Cory Fuller drove in a run on an infield error and Garrick Fisher followed with a run-scoring double to close out the first. In the second, Jandron had a two-run single and Fuller a run-scoring double.

St. Norbert built its lead with two runs in the sixth on a two-run home run by Jandron. Ripon scored twice in the seventh, but St. Norbert got a RBI singles from Brett Birkholz and Fisher and a run-scoring groundout by Jandron. The Red Hawks put up five runs in the top of the eighth, but St. Norbert would get two insurance runs in the inning on a two-run single by Jandron. Ripon had the tying run at the plate in the ninth but could not get him on base.

The Green Knights had 14 hits in the opener, getting a 2-for-3 game from Birkholz, a 3-for-6 showing by Yost and a 3-for-4 from Fisher. Fuller was 2-for-6.

In the nightcap, Justin Wotachek scattered six hits to earn the complete-game win for St. Norbert, improving to 6-1 on the season. Wotachek walked just one batter and struck out two.

St. Norbert scored once in the first on a single by Jandron to score Birkholz. Ripon scored an unearned run in the second, but St. Norbert got it back on a Ryan Kehl RBI groundout. The game stayed 2-1 until St. Norbert put up three runs in the seventh. Birkholz drove in Ryan Gusick with a single and Jandron finished his torrid twinbill with a two-run single up the middle.