GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College's baseball team began Midwest Conference South Division play in dominating fashion Friday, erupting for 30 runs in a twin bill sweep of Cornell College.
The 16-4 and 14-4 victories were just the medicine the Pioneers needed as they entered the contest on a three-game losing streak. Additionally, the sweep was against a team the Pioneers have lately battled in the MWC South Division title race.
Andrew Shults '19 swung the hot bat for Grinnell, going 6-of-8 for the day with six runs scored.
In the first game, he had three hits as did
Sam Galanek '18 and
Quinton McNitt '21.
Sam LaMotte '20 worked a complete game on the mound to get the win, striking out four without issuing a walk.
Grinnell led 2-0 in the bottom of the first on
Jared Booth's RBI single to left and a run via a passed ball.
Cornell grabbed a 4-2 lead in the fourth, but Grinnell rolled back ahead with four runs in the fifth on
Carson Gampell's '20 two-run homer to left-center.
The Pioneers washed away any remaining Ram hopes with a 10-run sixth inning. Galanek's two-run homer to left sparked the rally, as did McNitt's RBI double to left-center as Grinnell did all its damage on four hits and one error.
In the nightcap, the Pioneers piled up 17 hits with Shults,
Nathan Zaroban '18 and
Benjamin Wong '18 coming up with three apiece.
Thompson Rick '21 was the winning pitcher in relief, scattering four hits and fanning seven in 6-2/3 innings.
Cornell scored four runs in the top of the first, but the Pioneers countered with three in the bottom of the frame as Gampell had an RBI double to left-center and Wong an RBI single to right-center.
Grinnell added two runs in the second with the aid of Gampell's triple to left-center that pushed across a run and sacrifice fly from Galanek.
In the third, Grinnell put four more runs on the board as Galanek had a two-run single to left and McNitt an RBI single to left-center.
Grinnell posted two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Zaroban knocked in a run with a double to left-center and Wong scored another with his RBI single to right.
In the sixth, Booth plated two runs with a single to center. Grinnell finished the scoring, and game, when Galanek was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh.
Grinnell is 2-0 in the MWC South and Cornell 0-2. Both teams are 5-10 overall and meet for another doubleheader at noon Saturday in Mount Vernon.
