2012 Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament – hosted by Grinnell College
GAME #2 – May 11, 2012
Grinnell, IA – Grinnell College ended the Prairie Fire's season on Friday with a 12-0 win in the conference tournament.
The Fire (16-19) lost its opening game 3-1 on Friday against St. Norbert College, which hasn't lost since May 1. The Green Knights punched their ticket to the MWC Championship tilt with a 14-0 win against Beloit College in each team's second game of the day.
Grinnell lost its first game on Friday 4-3 against Beloit, creating a win or go home game between the Pioneers and Knox.
Grinnell and the Prairie Fire were scoreless through four innings. First-year Knox starter Kenny Blanchard (Morton Grove, IL) ran into trouble in the fifth inning, when the Pioneers scored four runs on five hits with two outs.
Blanchard (4-3) allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked a batter in the loss. Sophomore Dustin Armstrong (Cincinnati, OH) came on in relief of Blanchard to record the third out of the inning on a ground ball.
The Prairie Fire, which went down 1-2-3 in its next at bat, trailed 7-0 after Grinnell plated three more runs on three hits in the sixth inning.
The Pioneers continued their hot hitting with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth. Grinnell had 16 hits in the game while holding Knox to six. The Prairie Fire had three base runners after the fourth inning.
Sophomore Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, IL) was 3-for-3 with a double for Knox. Senior Dexter Brown (Saint Joseph, MN) also doubled, while junior Kyle Walenga (San Francisco, CA) and sophomore Jackson White (Grayslake, IL) had the Fire’s other hits.
Smoy and Walenga each had a stolen base as well.
Will Pahos (4-2) was the winning pitcher for Grinnell. He shut the Prairie Fire out on six hits over six innings and struck out five. The Pioneer bullpen threw two hitless innings in support of Pahos.
The Pioneers' season ended on Saturday with a 7-6 loss to Beloit College (19-21). Grinnell (17-20) dropped both of its games against the Bucs by one run.
St. Norbert College (26-11) claimed the 2012 conference title with a 12-3 victory on Saturday against Beloit College in the championship game. The Green Knights outscored the opposition 29-4 while going 3-0 in the tourney.
St. Norbert is red hot going into the NCAA Division III Tournament with seven straight wins and 18 in the last 19 games. The Prairie Fire held SNC to its lowest offensive output - three runs - in the first game of the tournament for both teams on Friday at William Penn University.
The Knights are assigned to the Midwest Regional of the 2012 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, which runs Wednesday through Sunday (May 16-20) at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. St. Norbert has a very tough assignment in its first game. SNC meets one of the best teams in the nation, the University of St. Thomas (34-8), which is ranked No. 2 in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 poll. The contest is Wednesday at 1:00.
The Green Knights are making their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, the future for the Knox baseball program is very bright.
A young team with only three seniors, the Prairie Fire finished second in the Midwest Conference South Division, earned a trip to the MWC Tournament for the first time in four years, and the squad's 16 wins are the most since the 1992 team won 18 games. Knox added eight more wins in 2012 compared to the 2011 season and improved its conference record from 3-9 to 7-5.
The final 2012 Midwest Conference baseball standings are available at http://www.midwestconference.org/standings.aspx?standings=104
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GAME #1 – May 11, 2012
Oskaloosa, IA – The Prairie Fire had trouble scoring against St. Norbert College pitching and lost the tournament opener 3-1 at William Penn University.
Knox (16-18) had four hits against Green Knights starter Josh Honzik (6-2), who gave up one earned run in his third complete game of the season and struck out 10.
St. Norbert (24-11) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning against first-year pitcher Nathaniel Grady (Antelope, CA, Oakmont), who got the start for Knox. A walk, followed by an error on a sacrifice bunt put two runners on base with nobody out. After the next two batters hit into a fielder’s choice that advanced a runner to third with two out, the Knights got a run scoring single – the only hit in the inning – to go on top 1-0.
The Fire tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth. Junior Ryan Hoffman (Sugar Grove, IL, Marmion Academy) walked to lead off the frame. Junior Kyle Walenga (San Francisco, CA, Waldorf) laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Hoffman to second base. Following a fly out by senior David Jewell (Spring Grove, IL, Richmond-Burton), junior Michael Schroeder (Glenview, IL, Glenbrook South) smacked a two out triple that scored Hoffman. A strike out ended the inning.
St. Norbert added another unearned run in the bottom of the fifth against Grady. The Knights got a one out single and a stolen base to put a runner in scoring position with two outs. They scored on an error that followed an infield single.
St. Norbert loaded the bases against Grady (2-4), who was lifted for junior reliever Gabe Ayers (Hanna City, IL, Farmington Community). Ayers got the next batter to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning with no further damage.
Grady threw 4 2/3 innings, surrendering two unearned runs on eight hits with a strikeout and a walk.
The Green Knights added their final run of the game on a solo homer off Ayers to lead off the sixth inning. Ayers tossed 3 1/3 innings and gave up just one earned run on one hit.
St. Norbert outhit Knox 10-4. Schroeder led the Fire with a pair of hits. Sophomore Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, IL, Hoffman Estates) and Walenga had the other hits for the Prairie Fire.
Knox takes on Grinnell College (16-20) at 3:30 p.m. on Friday in a must-win game for both teams in the double elimination tournament. The Pioneers lost their opening game on their home field against Beloit College 4-3.
The Fire went 1-3 against Grinnell during the regular season, including a 12-11 victory in the final game between the teams last Sunday.
St. Norbert won its second game of the day to move to 2-0 in the tournament by blowing out Beloit 14-0. The Buccaneers (18-20) are now 1-1 in the tourney and guaranteed themselves a game on Saturday.
The winner of the Prairie Fire contest against the Pioneers plays Beloit at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday while the loser goes home.
St. Norbert College (25-11), after winning 17 of its last 18 games, secured its spot in the MWC championship.
Up to date information about the tournament is available at http://www.midwestconference.org/sports/2012/5/7/BB_0507124855.aspx?id=306
