GALESBURG, Ill. - Grinnell College's baseball team not only broke out the bats Saturday in a doubleheader sweep of Knox College, but also tied a school record in the pitching department.
Ryan Jack '22 and
Garrett Nasif '24 combined to strike out 17 batters in the second game to tie the school mark established in 1999, also against Knox. They combined on a six-hitter in the game as Jack struck out nine batters and Nasif eight.
The Pioneers pounded out 29 hits in the two games and scored 22 runs in posting wins off 11-2 and 11-4. The wins, which pushed Grinnell's winning streak to three games, gave the Pioneers records of 3-3 both in the Midwest Conference South Division and overall.
Brock Weirather '21 led Grinnell's 14-hit attack in the opener with four hits, while
Jared Booth '21 had three.
Ryan Jungers '23 earned the pitching win, scattering 10 hits and striking out nine in seven innings.
The Pioneers got on the board first in the second inning on an RBI single by
Justin Williams '21 and made it 3-0 in the third on Booth's RBI double and run-scoring single by Weirather. Grinnell kept it up in the fourth, as
Matthew Inaba's '22 RBI double made it 4-0, and the fifth as
Nate L'esperance '23 blasted a two-run homer.
In the sixth, Grinnell tacked on three more runs when
Quinton McNitt '21 plated a run on an error and Weirather belted a three-run homer. In the seventh, Williams hit a sacrifice fly to left to make it 11-0. Knox got its runs in the bottom of the seventh.
McNitt and
Luke Porter '23 each had three hits in the second game. Weirather had an RBI single in the first, and in the second Williams scored on an error and McNitt added an RBI single. Knox, 0-10 in the MWC South and 1-15 overall, got a run in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1.
Booth had an RBI double in the fourth and later scored on an error, while L'esperance hit a two-run single to make it 7-1.
Knox sliced the gap to 7-4 in the fifth, but Guieb hit a sacrifice fly to right in the seventh, McNitt had an RBI single in the ninth and Porter followed with a two-run single to complete the scoring.
The teams are back at it Sunday when Knox visits Pioneer Park for a twin bill, beginning at noon.
