St. Norbert finished the first day of the 2012 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship with a 2-0 record as Beloit (1-1) and host Grinnell (1-1) also advance for a chance to be named Midwest Conference Champion.
Here is the recap's and box score's from the first four games.
Game One – Beloit 4, Grinnell 3 l [Box Score]
Beloit used a strong pitching performance from Alex Norman and timely hitting to move on to the winners bracket with a 4-3 win over host Grinnell at the 2012 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship.
Norman went the distance for Beloit tossing all nine innings and surrendering only six hits and three runs while striking out three. Norman picked up his seventh win of the season while tossing his seventh complete came of the season.
Grinnell got on the board early as Kainoa Inafuku scored on a Michael Goldfien groundout to get the Pioneers on the board early.
The score remained 1-0 until the Beloit bats awoke in the fifth inning scoring three runs on four hits off Grinnell starter Ben Pope. The scoring rally started with one out in the inning as Sean Little, Jordan Jaenicke and Evan Mascitti all singled consecutively to tie the game before Jake Tresemer platted a pair two batters later with a single.
Grinnell answered back in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs to tie the game. Inafuku reached on an infield single to lead the inning off and Mike Nodzenski advanced him to third with a book rule double down the left field line. Goldfien and Ronnie Gray then brought home runs with groundouts to tie the score after six inning.
Beloit got the last run of the game in the next half inning to break the tie with a Tresemer double down the right field line that would score Jennings and give the Bucs a lead. Norman then shut the door on Grinnell sitting down the last nine batters he faced.
Tresemer and Jaenicke eached picked up a pair of hits for Beloit in the victory while Tresemer drove in three of the runs. Beloit was hit by four pitches in the game which should come to no surprise as they lead the league in that category during the regular season.
Pope took the loss for Grinnell throwing only 6.1 innings and giving up all four runs while striking out six. The top of the Grinnell batting order did the most damage to Norman as J.R. Dowrick, Inafuku and Nodzenski combined to go 5-fo-12 with three runs scored.
Beloit will now face off against MWC North foe St. Norbert in the third game of the tournament which will determine who is in the driver’s seat entering tomorrow’s games. Grinnell will play host to Knox in the first elimination game at 3:30 p.m.
Game Two – St. Norbert 3, Knox 1 l [Box Score]
OSKALOOSA, Iowa – St. Norbert earned its 24th win of the season in the second game of the 2012 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship with a 3-1 win over the second seed from the South Division, Knox.
The Green Knights scored single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings and starter Josh Honzik limited the Prairie Fire to only four hits in nine innings of work. Honzik surrendered the lone run to the opposition in the fifth inning and also struck out ten batters for his sixth win of the season.
In the third inning St. Norbert tallied a run when Garrick Fisher singled through the left side of the infield to score Powers who reached on an error earlier in the inning. Knox struck right back in the top half of the fifth inning when Michael Schroeder tripled to right centerfield to score Ryan Hoffman and tie the score at one.
St. Norbert took the lead for good in the fifth inning when they tallied a run on two hits and capitalized on a pair of Prairie Fire errors. The run scoring play in the inning was a Chris Hillesheim infield single that scored Travis Mason from second base on an error on the same play. The Green Knights tacked on an insurance run in the sixth with a Pierre home run to right field.
Hillesheim led the way offensively for the home team with three hits in four at bats and collected one of the team’s two extra base hits. Fisher and Pierre were the only hitters to pick up RBI’s on the day.
Knox picked up only four hits on the day with Schroeder having two of the hits and the only RBI. Grady picked up the loss pitching only 4.2 innings giving up eight hits and two runs although neither of the runs were earned runs.
St. Norbert will now face off against Beloit in the first winners bracket game while Grinnell and Knox will play in the first elimination game at 3:30 p.m.
Game Three – St. Norbert 14, Beloit 0 (7 inn) l [Box Score]
In the winners bracket game the Green Knights busted out the medal and clubbed 14 hits and scored 14 runs en route to a 14-0 victory over Beloit in seven innings at the 2012 MWC Baseball Championship.
St. Norbert took control of the game early with a three run top of the first inning. Beloit starter Grant Henricksen loaded the bases giving up a leadoff hit to Jordan Powers then walking the next two hitters to set up the inning for the visitors. After Henricksen got a strikeout Jose Godinez singled back up the middle to score a pair of runs followed by a groundout by Ljunggren that scored Travis Mason.
In the fourth inning the Green Knights pulled away sending ten batters to the plate and scoring six runs on five hits. Matt Hannon and Travis Mason each singled home a run before Troy Rottier doubled with the bases to score all three runs and round out the inning for St. Norbert.
The Green Knights got back into the groove in the fifth inning sending eight more batters to the plate which scored three runs. Garrick Fisher doubled home a run in the inning as two runs in the inning were unearned. Hannon rounded out the St. Norbert scoring on the day with a two run home run to clear the left field fence and give the team a 14 run lead.
Henricksen took the loss for the home team pitching four innings and gave up ten hits while getting tagged for nine runs. He struck out four and walked for as his record dropped to 3-2 on the year. Emory Nelms and Jake Parrott picked up the only hits on the day for Beloit.
Kevin Nulty earned the win going five innings and surrendering only one hit while striking out six. Nulty only allowed two base runners on the day. Every Green Knights hitter had a hit on the day led by Jordan Powers with a 3-for-5 performance with three runs scored. Hannon, Fisher and Ljunggren all had a pair of hits with Hannon scoring four runs on the day. Hannon and Rottier each drove in three runs on the day.
With the loss Beloit will face its first elimination game tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. against either Grinnell or Knox. St. Norbert will face off against the winner of the 9:00 a.m. game tomorrow for a chance to win its first MWC Championship since the 2003 season.
Game Four – Grinnell 12, Knox 0 (8 inn) l [Box Score]
Grinnell stayed alive in the 2012 MWC Baseball Championship with a 12-0 win over Knox in the final game on Friday afternoon. With the loss Knox was the first team eliminated while Grinnell will play another elimination game tomorrow morning.
After a pitcher’s duel for the first four innings Grinnell broke the game wide open in the top of the fifth inning with four runs on five hits to take a commanding lead. With one out Colin Tremblay doubled to deep left centerfield and Drew Davis singled, advancing to second on a throw, to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Then, with two outs, Kainoa Inafuku came up with a clutch single through the right side to score Tremblay and Davis before stealing second and scoring on a Michael Goldfien single. Ronnie Gray ended the scoring in the inning with a single to score Mike Nodzenski who earned his spot on base via a hit by pitch.
Tremblay got Grinnell going again in the sixth inning picking up a single up the middle and then steal second base and scoring on a J.R. Dowrick triple into the right field corner. Prior to the Dowrick triple Jackson Markey was able to pull off a rare feat when he stole home and scored during the Tremblay stolen base. Inafuku added to the scoring in the sixth as he doubled home Dowrick to round out the three run inning.
The Pioneers advantage stretched to nine runs in the sixth inning as Tremblay again came up with a bases loaded RBI single that scored Matt Skelly and Gray.
Grinnell closed out the game in the eighth inning when Nodzenski, Goldfein and Skelly all scored and reliever Jason Ormond shut out Knox in the bottom half of the inning to win the run shortened game.
Will Pahos picked up the victory for Grinnell tossing six scoreless innings before being lifted. He scattered six hits and struck out five while only walking one to earn his fifth win of the season. The hitters finally got the bats going after a tough start to the game and ended up with 16 total hits with four different players collecting three hits. Inafuku, Goldfien, Gray and Tremblay all had three hits with Inafuku driving in three runs.
Blanchard took the loss for Knox lasting only 4.2 innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. Knox’s offense was limited to only six hits, half of which came off the bat of Erik Smoy who went 3-for-3 with a double. Smoy was the only Prairie Fire player with multiple hits.
Grinnell will now face off against Beloit in the first game on Saturday that will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of the Beloit/Grinnell game will then face off against St. Norbert at 1:00 p.m.