Box Score GRINNELL - The Grinnell College baseball team split games with Illinois College Sunday at North Diamond, winning an 8-7, 11-inning thriller in the opener and falling 4-3 in the nightcap.

The Pioneers, who were the away team in the games since the contests were supposed to be played in Jacksonville before being rained out, moved to 4-1 in the Midwest Conference South Division and 11-13 overall. Illinois College is now 4-6 in the division and 19-12 in all contests.

Grinnell's defense turned five double plays in the opener and the Pioneers were sparked by three hits apiece from Michael Goldfien '12 and Mike Nodzenski '12. Nodzenski bashed two homers and Drew Davis '13 one, and Davis also had a double in the Pioneers' 16-hit attack.

Grinnell got on the board with three runs in the first inning as J.R. Dowrick '15 singled and Goldfien walked before Nodzenski belted a three-run homer over the left-field fence.

The Pioneers made it 4-0 in the second when Dowrick's sacrifice fly scored Jackson Markey '14. The Blueboys got on the board with a run in the third, but Grinnell pushed its lead to 5-1 in the sixth when Davis doubled down the left-field line and scored on triple by Dowrick.

However, the visitors erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to go ahead 7-5.

In the eighth, Grinnell made things even with two runs as Nodzenski blasted a two-run homer that scored Goldfien. Neither team scored in the ninth or 10th before the Pioneers scored in the 11th on Davis' homer to left.

The Pioneers shut down the Blueboys in the bottom of the frame to secure the win. Andrew Kelley '14 pitched one-hit ball over the final 1-2/3 innings to get the win and improve to 4-1.

Nodzenski had two hits in the second game and Goldfien homered for Grinnell. The Pioneers got on the board right away with two runs in the first on Goldfien's homer to right that plated Dowrick, who had doubled.

Grinnell made it 3-0 in the fifth as Davis scored when Dowrick reached base on an error. However, the Blueboys scored once in the fifth, twice more in the sixth and again in the eighth to seal the win.

Ian Sales '15 suffered the pitching loss.

The Pioneers are slated to play Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., on Wednesday.