CONWAY, Ark. – One day after erupting for 11 runs, the Grinnell College baseball team outdid itself Monday afternoon.
The Pioneers ripped 21 hits, the fourth-most in program history and most in a game since 2010, on their way to a 14-8 victory at Hendrix College. The win moved the Pioneers, who are now on a two-game winning streak, to 4-4 on the season while Hendrix dipped to 8-13.
Three Pioneers had special days, as
Matt Hammond '17 and
Sam Galanek '18 each had a career-high five hits, one shy of the school record.
Andrew Shults '19 tied a career-best with three hits while
Nathan Zaroban '18 and
Ben Spencer '20 added two hits each.
Shults had a triple among his totals, while Galanek belted two doubles and Zaroban and
Niko Takayesu '17 had a two-bagger each.
Galanek, the second of five Grinnell pitchers, got the win while tossing four innings.
The Pioneers showed they meant business from the start, putting up five runs in the first inning and three in the second to build an 8-2 lead. Hammond, Galanek and Zaroban had RBI singles in the first,
Carson Gampell '20 knocked in a run with a groundout and another runner crossed the plate on an error.
In the second, Hammond and Gampell punched RBI singles and Gampell pushed across a run with a groundout.
Hendrix scored in the third inning to make it 8-3, but the Pioneers tallied in the fourth on Gampell's sacrifice fly to center.
The hosts countered with a run in the bottom of the fourth before Grinnell scored twice in the sixth via a wild pitch and RBI groundout by Gampell. Hendrix added solo runs in the sixth and seventh to make it 11-6 before the Pioneers got some breathing room with two runs in the eighth and another in the ninth.
Zaroban sent in one run in the eighth with an RBI double down the left-field line, and another run cross the plate on a wild pitch. Galanek added an RBI double to right in the ninth to put the Pioneers ahead 14-6.
Hendrix scored twice in the bottom of the ninth but could get no closer.
The Pioneers now head to Tucson, Ariz., to play the University of Wisconsin-Superior and Carthage College on Thursday.
