GALESBURG, Ill. – Grinnell College's baseball team kicked off the Midwest Conference Crossover on the right note Saturday, beating St. Norbert College and Ripon College on the day.
Grinnell used an eighth-inning rally to defeat defending MWC Tournament champ St. Norbert 5-3 in the opener.
Andrew Shults '19 hit a two-run single to score
Benjamin Wong '18 and
Nathan Zaroban '19 in the inning, and
Sam Galanek '18 belted an RBI double to score
Quinton McNitt '21.
Grinnell had taken a 2-0 lead in the sixth when Zaroban and Wong each had RBI singles, but the Green Knights came back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Galanek sparked Grinnell's 13-hit attack with three hits, while
Carson Gampell '20, Zaroban and Wong had two each.
Brock Weirather '21 was the winning pitcher, striking out two over seven innings.
Shane Comiskey '18 held the lead in the eighth and
Thompson Rick '21 secured it in the ninth for the save. Neither Comiskey nor Rick gave up a hit.
The Pioneers followed with a 10-7 win over Ripon. Ripon got on the board in the first, but Grinnell went up 4-1 when Galanek hit a two-run double in the second and another run came across on an error.
Chad Koehler '20 then hit an RBI single in the third.
Ripon responded in the bottom of the third to go up 6-4, but Gampell hit an RBI double in the fourth and another run came across on an error to make it 6-all.
The Red Hawks took a 7-6 lead in the seventh and held Grinnell scoreless unitl the ninth when the Pioneers erupted for four runs. Wong had an RBI single, Galanek plated two more runs on a single and Gampell reached on an error to score another run.
Galanek paced Grinnell's 13-hit attack with four hits, and
Gabriel Shubert '20 was the winning pitcher in relief. Comiskey earned the save.
Galanek moved up Grinnell's career chart in several categories. He is now ninth in at-bats with 432 and 10th in games played with 122 and hits with 145. Gampell is 10th in career putouts with 406.
Grinnell, 9-4 in the MWC and 12-14 overall, closes out the MWC Crossover with a game against Beloit College Sunday.