Green Knights Win Five at MWC Classic, Push School-Record Winning Streak to 12

From Sports Information Director, April 11, 2010 | Softball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

JANESVILLE - St. Norbert College swept all five of its games at the Midwest Conference Classic crossover tournament and set a school record winning streak in the process.

The Green Knights won their 12th-straight game with a 7-0 win over Monmouth College to wrap up the tournament, their most since a 10-game winning streak in 2001. St. Norbert is 17-5 overall and 8-0 in the MWC North, and is 12-0 since returning from its spring break trip to Florida.

St. Norbert opened the tournament with a trio of wins - beating Knox College 10-0, Illinois College 3-2 and Grinnell College 8-4. The Green Knights then beat MWC South Division leader Lake Forest College 5-1 before topping Monmouth.

Against Knox, St. Norbert broke open a 1-0 game with two runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and five in the seventh. Brittany Narges smacked a two-run double in the fifth for a 3-0 lead. Tracy Palmer and Alyssa McGray had two hits apiece in the game. Kayla Krueger threw a three-hit shutout, striking out five.

St. Norbert rallied past Illinois College with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Green Knights had the bases loaded with two outs trailing 2-1 when Stephanie Ortiz's single tied the game. Alissa Purko then scampered home on a wild pitch for the game-winning run. Ortiz, Krueger and Purko all had two hits in the game. Kari Corbeille got the win, scattering eight hits with eight strikeouts.

A six-run fourth inning was St. Norbert's big uprising against Grinnell. Krueger's two-run single gave St. Norbert a 6-0 lead. Krueger and McGray each had two hits, while Jessica Kropp homered. Kropp was also the winning pitcher, with four strikeouts in five innings.

St. Norbert scored four times in the fifth to beat Lake Forest, getting two hits and getting helped out by two Lake Forest errors. McGray was 2-for-3 in the game with an RBI double in the second inning. Corbeille earned the win with a four-hitter, walking one and striking out four.

Against Monmouth, St. Norbert scored twice in the fifth and four times in the sixth to break open a 1-0 game. Kropp's two-run double in the fifth made it 3-0. McGray was 3-for-4, while Krueger and Collette Ullmer each had two hits. Krueger improved to 8-0 with the the win, allowing just two first-inning singles. Krueger did not walk a batter and struck out five.