Baseball

Week Eight Baseball Performers of the Week

Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157

GRINNELL, Iowa – Knox College outfielder Drake Sykes and St. Norbert College pitcher Jake McMahon have been honored by the Midwest Conference (MWC) as the league’s baseball Performers of the Week.

Weekly Notes

Sykes had a big week at the plate for the Prairie Fire. In six games, all against MWC competition, Sykes picked up 12 hits in 23 at-bats including three home runs, four doubles, nine RBI, and seven runs scored.  He currently ranks 13th in Division III in batting average (.462), seventh in home runs per game (.33), seventh in on-base percentage (.560), third in RBI per game (1.67), and third in slugging percentage (.885).

McMahon picked up two wins this past week as the Green Knights had a 6-1 week. McMahon spun a complete-game shutout in an 8-0 win against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Monday, allowing six hits with no walks and two strikeouts. He then went the distance again, allowing two earned runs on eight hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts in an 8-3 win over Knox Saturday.

Notable Performances
In Ripon College's five games at the MWC Crossover during the weekend, Michael Barnes batted .391 (9-for-23) with two home runs and nine RBI. One of those homers was a walk-off winner in Friday night's 6-4 victory against Illinois College. Barnes also scored three runs and stole one base, while committing no errors in 24 chances behind the plate. He recorded three multi-hit games in Ripon's five MWC Crossover games.  In Saturday's 6-1 win against the MWC South's top team Grinnell, Brice Swick spun eight scoreless innings, scattering seven hits and striking out six batters without issuing a walk as he earned the victory.

Lucas Larson batted .550 (11-for-20) for the week in guiding Cornell College to a 4-1 week, which included three wins against MWC North Division foes. Larson went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles in a 5-2 setback to North leader St. Norbert.  On the bump for the Rams, Tyrus Hartman recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts in an 8-3 victory over Ripon. The senior fired 8 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs while walking a pair. The Rams, who went 4-1 for the week, have won nine of their last 11 contests.

Sam Galanek hit a solid .462 in three games, going 6-of-13 at the plate with five RBI, a triple and two runs. His biggest hit came in a 14-run 10th inning against Lawrence University where he blasted a grand slam homer.  Sam LaMotte continued his impressive first season with the Pioneers in a 4-1 victory over Beloit College. He worked 8 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and striking out seven while issuing just one run.

Monmouth College’s Ryan Sparks had a record-setting week, breaking a trio of career marks. The senior second basement eclipsed the career hits, doubles and total bases records to spark the Scots dramatic 8-3 come-from-behind win over Ripon. Needing just one hit, a double and a base to set the new standard, Sparks drilled a pair of doubles in the game, including a key RBI double in the ninth inning of the game. He began the week with a 5-for-8 effort in a twinbill at Coe College. For the week, Sparks hit .391 with a.609 slugging percentage and five RBI.  The Scots’ Tyler McDonald continued to turn in stellar efforts on the mound. In his lone appearance last week, the sophomore worked 7 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs while fanning nine in a 2-0 loss to St. Norbert. McDonald scattered six hits and walked just one.

Jacob Raeder led St. Norbert's offense this past week.  Raeder hit .435 in six games, going 10-for-23. He scored six runs, hit two doubles, one triple and drove in five runs. He slugged .609 and had an on-base percentage of .500.