GRINNELL, Iowa- Grinnell College went a long way toward securing its 10th consecutive appearance in the Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament with a sweep of Knox College Saturday at Pioneer Park.
 
Brock Weirather '21 fired a two-hit shutout in the opener, an 11-0 victory for the Pioneers, and then the hosts swept the twin bill in a slugfest with a 13-10 win.
 
Grinnell stayed tied atop the MWC South Division standings with Monmouth College at 11-5 while moving to 14-15 overall. Knox dipped to 2-11 in the MWC and 9-19 in all games.
 
Weirather had a no-hitter after five innings of the opener and finished with five strikeouts in the seven-inning affair to improve to 5-1. Sam Galanek '18 paced the offense with three hits and four RBIs, while Andrew Shults '19 and Julian Cabrera '19 had two hits each. Cabrera and Jared Booth '21 each homered.
 
Grinnell got all the offense it needed in the first inning when Galanek belted an RBI double down the left-field line.
 
Grinnell tallied seven runs in the second, including a three-run homer to center by Cabrera. Shults hit an RBI single to center, Galanek had a two-run double to right and later scored on a wild pitch.
 
Galanek's infield single in the third plated another run, Booth hit a solo homer to right in the sixth and Brad Weaver '18 reached base on an error to drive in a run in the sixth, as well.
 
The second game saw the teams combine for 26 hits and seven errors, as Knox actually outhit the hosts 14-12. Four Pioneers had two hits each.
 
Knox took a 2-0 lead in the first, but the Pioneers went ahead in the second as Quinton McNitt '21 had an RBI infield single, another run came across on an error and Galanek hit a two-run double down the left-field line.
 
Grinnell went up 9-2 in the third as Wong hit a two-run single to center and Shults delivered the first home run of his career – college or otherwise – that was a three-run bomb to left.
 
After Knox came within 9-5, Galanek hit an RBI double to right in the fifth to make it a five-run game. The Prairie Fire came back to tie it at 10-all before Booth scored on a passed ball in the sixth and Weaver bashed a two-run homer to left.
 
Charles Carr '19, the third of three Grinnell pitchers, tossed hitless ball and struck out five in 3-2/3 innings to get the win.
 
The same two teams meet Sunday in Galesburg, Ill., with a noon start time.