MWC Tournament Page

MONMOUTH, Ill. – Grinnell College will meet defending Midwest Conference champion St. Norbert College in the opening round of the league baseball tournament Friday. Game time is 11 a.m. in Galesburg, Ill.
 
The 16-20 Pioneers, the South Division runner-up, are making their 10th consecutive trip to the MWC Tourney and 13th overall. The Green Knights, the North Division champ, are 22-13.
 
The winner will play the Monmouth College-Lawrence University winner at 2:30 p.m. in Monmouth, while the first-round losers play at the same time in Galesburg.
 
The Pioneers have already beaten St. Norbert once this season, posting a 5-3 win on April 21. In that game, Sam Galanek '18 had three hits and Nathan Zaroban '18 and Benjamin Wong '18 two apiece. Brock Weirather '21 was the winning pitcher, tossing eight-hit ball over seven innings and striking out two. Thompson Rick '21 had the save.
 
Grinnell is hitting .303 as a team, with leaders including Andrew Shults '19 (.392, 11 doubles, 20 RBIs, 27 stolen bases), Zaroban (.375, 12 doubles, five homers, 25 RBIs), Galanek (.357, 13 doubles, 5 homers, 47 RBIs), Carson Gampell '20 (.351, 9 doubles, 3 homers, 30 RBIs), Quinton McNitt '21 (.316, 11 RBIs) and Jared Booth '21 (.294, 8 doubles, 3 homers, 21 RBIs).
 
The pitching staff has been led by Andrew Mack '18 (2-1 record, 2.25 ERA, 27 strikeouts), Weirather (5-1, 3.63 ERA, 33 strikeouts), Rick (2-0, 4.62 ERA, 35 strikeouts) and Jacob Morsch '21 (2-2, 6.81 ERA, 28 strikeouts). The Pioneers' team ERA is 7.43.
 
The Green Knights are hitting .292 as a team. Top hitters include Jason Malkowski (.385, 7 doubles, 2 homers, 23 RBIs), Hunter Larson (.364, 9 doubles, 18 RBIs), Lucas Reynolds (.328, 4 doubles, 8 RBIs), Brett Reinhart (.316, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 13 RBIs) and Sean Ferraro (.304, 9 doubles, 4 homers, 25 RBIs).
 
The pitching staff has a 5.40 ERA and is led by Bryce Braspennickx (4-1, 2.51 ERA, 18 strikeouts), Nick Klavekoske (4-1, 3.42 ERA, 42 strikeouts), Carson Jacques (4-3, 4.50 ERA, 25 strikeouts) and Riley Lynch (4-2, 5.79 ERA, 15 strikeouts).
 
The MWC Tourney winner earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.