GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College got its Midwest Conference baseball series with Illinois College off to a great start Saturday.
And on a blustery and gray Sunday at Pioneer Park, Grinnell completed its perfection against the Blueboys with wins of 7-5 and 8-1 to complete a 4-0 sweep in the series between the teams.
Grinnell is now 4-0 in the MWC and 10-7 overall, while the Blueboys fell to 0-4 in the league and 3-13 in all games.
Andrew Shults '19 and
Matt Hammond '17 had hot bats for Grinnell, with Shults going 5-of-8 in the two games combined to raise his batting average to .426 and Hammond going 4-of-7 to improve to a team-best.448.
Hammond also pushed his season RBI total to 36, which is sixth-best in Pioneer history with half the season to go.
Shults, Hammond and
Julian Cabrera '19 all had two hits in the first game, while
Jacob Morsch '20 got the pitching win and
Ben Binversie '17 tossed two-thirds of an inning of perfect ball to get the save.
Grinnell got all the scoring it needed with six runs courtesy of six hits and an error in the third inning. Hammond knocked in two runs with a double to left-center, Cabrera had a two-run single up the middle and Shults and
Sam Galanek '18 each had RBI singles through the left side.
Illinois College scored twice in the fifth, but Grinnell got a run back in the sixth on Hammond's sacrifice fly to center for a 7-2 lead.
The Blueboys made things interesting with three runs in the ninth before Grinnell shut the door.
In the opener, Shults was 3-for-4 at the plate, while Hammond and
Nathan Zaroban '18 each had two hits.
Sam Lopez '18 and
Shane Comiskey '18 combined on a three-hitter, with Comiskey getting the win with a six-inning, two-strikeout performance in relief.
Grinnell opened the scoring with a run in the first on Galanek's sacrifice fly to right. After the Blueboys tied it, Grinnell took command for good in the fifth when
Michael Slattery '18 lifted a two-run single to right-center and Galanek delivered another sacrifice fly for a 4-1 edge.
Hammond's two-run double down the left-field line in the sixth made it 6-1.
Niko Takayesu '17 had an RBI double to right in the seventh inning and
Brad Weaver '18 scored on an error in the eighth.
Grinnell is in action at Pioneer Park Saturday when Monmouth College visits for a MWC twin bill. The first pitch is at 1 p.m.
