Tournament Page

GRINNELL, Iowa – This weekend, plenty of exciting action will be on tap as Grinnell College hosts the 2017 Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament.
 
The Pioneers clinched the MWC South Division crown and hosting rights after beating Cornell College two of four times last weekend.
 
Other teams joining the Pioneers and South runner-up Cornell will be MWC North champion St. Norbert College and runner-up Beloit College. Grinnell and Beloit meet at 9 a.m. Friday at Pioneer Park, while St. Norbert faces Cornell at the same time at Woodland Park in Newton.
 
From there, all action will be at Pioneer Park.
 
Grinnell finished MWC play with a 13-7 record and a 20-14 overall record. Andrew Shults leads the team in batting average (.406) and hits (54), while Niko Takayesu leads the team in slugging percentage (.555), on-base percentage (.497), runs scored (47) and total bases (71). Matt Hammond has also made significant contributions this year with a batting average of .323, 52 RBIs and five homers. On the mound, Sam LaMotte leads the team with an ERA of 2.59 and 4-2 record, and an opposing batting average of .244. Ben Binversie leads the team in wins with a 6-0 mark.
 
Grinnell's first opponent, Beloit, is coming into the tournament with an 11-5-1 record in conference and a 17-17 record overall. Jalen Davis leads the team in batting average (.389), total bases (76) and hits (56), while Kam Sallee has a .387 average and Zach Jenkins .333. As far as pitching goes, Colton Lopez has an ERA of 2.35 and 3-1 mark, while Danny Belling is 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA.
 
The Cornell Rams, 12-8 in the MWC and 18-18 overall, are looking to make their mark with Walker Breard leading the way. Breard leads the team in batting average (.381), slugging percentage (.643), on-base percentage (.521), runs scored (32), hits (48), runs batted in (37) and home runs (7). In the circle, Andy Dodson leads the team with 53 strikeouts and Tyrus Hartman is close behind with 49 Ks. Dodson's ERA is also a strong 2.80.
 
St. Norbert's Green Knights will be looking to make an impact, entering the game with a 15-2 MWC mark and 26-10 overall record. Hunter Larson has a batting average of .346, 46 total hits and a .466 slugging percentage. Also making a significant impact for the Green Knights is Derek Klegin, who has a batting average of .333, 47 hits and a slugging percentage of .433. On the mound, Jason Malkowski leads the way with an ERA of 1.97, 6-0 record and 31 strikeouts. Carson Jacques also has helped the Green Knights' pitching with an ERA of 2.28 and 37 strikeouts.
 
The tourney champ earns the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.