Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 GRINNELL – The Grinnell College baseball team claimed its third consecutive outright Midwest Conference championship Sunday with a pair of victories over Knox College.

The title means the Pioneers will host the 2012 MWC Championships this coming Friday and Saturday at North Diamond. Grinnell opens up action at 9 a.m. Friday against a foe to be determined.

The Pioneers began Sunday by completing a suspended game with Knox, which Grinnell won 9-8 in 12 innings. They followed that with a 2-0 win to secure the division title and then lost 12-11.

Andrew Kelley '14 had a masterful pitching performance in the two wins. He tossed two-hit scoreless ball and fanned five in four innings of the suspended game to earn the win and improve to 5-2, and then gave up just two hits and no runs in three innings to start the next victory. Will Pahos '14 closed out that win with no-hit ball over the last six innings to improve to 3-2. He struck out five.

The suspended game began tied at 8-all in the ninth inning. Neither team scored over three innings before the Pioneers got a run in the 12th frame. With two out, J.R. Dowrick '15 singled to left, stole second and scored on a single up the middle by Kainoa Inafuku '14.

Kelley sat the Prairie Fire down in order in the bottom of the inning to earn the win. Michael Goldfien '12 led Grinnell's offense in the game with three hits.

In the next game, a two-run output in the seventh inning was all the Pioneers needed. In that frame, Dowrick plated both runs with a double to center field after Jackson Markey 14 and Inafuku had singled.

Dowrick, Matt Skelly '12 and Inafuku paced the offense in the game with two hits each.

In the final game of the day, Grinnell built a seemingly-comfortable lead with four runs in the first inning and two in the third for a 6-0 cushion. Ronnie Gray's '12 bases-loaded walk plated one run in the first, while a passed ball and two wild pitches scored the other runs.

In the third, Goldfien and Mike Nodzenski '12 were each hit by pitches with the bases loaded to score the runs.

Knox came within 6-4 in the fourth, but the Pioneers bounced back with one run in the bottom of the inning and four more in the fifth for an 11-4 lead. In the fourth, Inafuku had an RBI single up the middle and in the fifth, Gray had a two-run double, while Jason Kemis '12 and Matt Schaeffer '14 each had RBI doubles, as well.

However, Knox got back into the game with two runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth, and then took the lead for good with two runs in the ninth.

Dowrick, Goldfien and Inafuku each had two hits to lead Grinnell. TJ Goetz '14 suffered the pitching loss.

The Pioneers finish the regular season at 8-4 in the MWC South and 16-18 overall, while the Prairie Fire – who also made the league tourney – are 7-5 in the division and 14-17 in all games.