TOPEKA, Kan. - The Grinnell College baseball team put on an offensive display Saturday afternoon in sweeping past the University of Wisconsin-Superior in a twin bill.
In 14 innings of at-bats, the Pioneers piled up 27 runs on 23 hits while posting wins of 14-7 and 13-2, the latter which was stopped in the seventh inning due to the mercy rule.
Matthew Inaba '22 tied a school record with two sacrifice flies in the opening game. That is the ninth time a Pioneer has achieved that total, and the first since 2017. Additionally, Grinnell's four homers in the opener are tied for fourth most in program history.
In the first game,
Carson Gampell '20 pounded out four hits while Inaba and
Quinton McNitt '21 had three hits in the Pioneers' 14-hit attack. All three had homers, as did
Brock Weirather '21.
UW-Superior scored in the top of the first, but Weirather hit a two-run homer to left-center in the first and
Kory Czajkowski '20 stole home in the second to make it 3-1.
The Yellowjackets went ahead 5-3 in the third, but Grinnell sliced into that gap in the bottom of the third on Gampell's RBI single to right and tied the game in the fourth on Inaba's solo homer to left.
Grinnell (4-2) took the lead for good in the fifth as
Chad Koehler '20 and
Riley Guieb '21 drew bases-loaded walks and McNitt belted a three-run double down the left-field line to make it 10-5.
The Pioneers made it 13-5 as Gampell hit a homer to left in the sixth, Inaba added a sacrifice fly to center and McNitt bashed a solo homer to center in the seventh.
UW-Superior (1-3) scored twice in the eighth before Grinnell completed the scoring in the bottom of the inning on Inaba's record-tying sacrifice fly to right.
Ryan Jungers '23, who threw three innings of two-hit shutout ball and struck out three, got the pitching win for Grinnell.
In the second game, Grinnell had nine hits and Weirather pitched a sharp game in getting the win. He struck out nine and gave up just four hits while walking just one and issuing two runs in six innings. Inaba, McNitt and
Jared Booth '21 led the offense with two hits each.
UW-Superior opened the scoring in the second, but Grinnell struck fast and hard in the bottom of the second and third with seven and five runs, respectively.
Sean Richardson '23 opened the scoring with a bases-loaded walk, Gampell came across on a passed ball and
Justin Williams '21 had an RBI double to left to make it 3-1. Richardson later scored on an error, Inaba sent an RBI single through the right side and then scored on an error and McNitt came across on a wild pitch.
In the third, Gampell scored on an error, Guieb plated a run on a fielder's choice, Williams scored on a balk and McNitt lifted a two-run double to center.
Each team scored once in the sixth, with Grinnell's run coming on Inaba's RBI single through the right side.
The teams meet for two more games Sunday, starting at 11 a.m.
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