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2013 MIDWEST CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: MAY 10-11 HOSTED BY RIPON COLLEGE

Game 3

Ripon, WI – The Prairie Fire lost in a rematch with St. Norbert College 11-2 for a spot in the championship game against host Ripon College on Saturday.

Knox is eliminated from the tournament after falling twice to St. Norbert.  The Green Knights (26-12) move on to face the MWC North Division champion Red Hawks (23-13), who are unbeaten in the tournament so far.  Ripon needs one win against SNC to clinch its 20th Midwest Conference title and earn a trip to the NCAA D-III Championship.

The Prairie Fire (22-13) finished a historic season with the South Division title and team records for wins in a season and conference wins in a season.

SNC took an early lead with two runs in the first inning on two singles, a walk, and two stolen bases.

Knox trimmed the deficit in half at 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the first on a run-scoring single by senior Caleb Weaver (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg).

The Green Knights used an eight-run fourth inning that put the Prairie Fire in a hole they couldn't dig out of.  The big blow was a grand slam by Travis Mason – who also started on the mound for St. Norbert -- that extended the lead to 10-1.

Senior Gabe Ayers (Hanna City, IL, Farmington) stopped the bleeding by getting the last two outs of the inning and shut down the Knights in his 4 2/3 innings of work.  Ayers allowed just one hit, a single in the seventh inning.

Knox scored its only other run in the bottom of the sixth inning when junior Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, IL, Hoffman Estates) singled home junior Jackson White (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake Central), who led off the inning with a double, to make it a 10-2 game.

St. Norbert plated its 11th run of the game in the top of the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly.

Sophomore Nathaniel Grady (Antelope, CA, Oakmont) started the game for Knox and was charged with the loss.  Grady (2-3) gave up six runs, five hits, and three walks with two strikeouts in three innings pitched.

Mason (2-1) earned the win for SNC in his fourth start of the season.  He pitched a complete game, surrendering two runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

The Green Knights outhit the Prairie Fire 10 to 6.  Weaver led Knox with two hits.

Information from the Midwest Conference about the tournament is available at http://www.midwestconference.org/sports/2013/5/2/BB_0502133256.aspx?id=377&

View photos of the Prairie Fire at the Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament taken by John Williams at http://www.flickr.com/photos/knoxcollege/sets/72157633464737706/with/8727490798/

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Game 2

Ripon, WI – The Prairie Fire stayed alive in the tournament with a 12-7 win against Grinnell College on Friday night at Barlow Park.

The win, the fourth in five games this season against the Pioneers (13-21), followed a very long day that included several changes to the schedule -- in part because of rain -- that initially had Knox playing its first tournament game at 9:00 a.m.  The Prairie Fire finally got on the field against St. Norbert College six hours later at 3:00 p.m.

Knox rebounded nicely from a 7-0 loss to the Green Knights by scoring a run in the first inning against Grinnell on a wild pitch and three more in the second inning on a two-out home run by senior Caleb Weaver (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) for an early 4-0 lead.  The homer was Weaver's fourth of the season.

The Prairie Fire got off to the quick start listening to the advice of head coach Jami Isaacson.  "I told the kids that we are getting in the box and we are going to swing and be aggressive."

Knox (22-12) extended the advantage to 6-0 in the top of the fourth inning on run-scoring singles by junior Erik Smoy (Hoffman Estates, IL, Hoffman Estates) and senior Ryan Hoffman (Sugar Grove, IL, Marmion Academy). 

Grinnell starting pitcher Jason Ormond, who had a Midwest Conference low 1.49 ERA and allowed just seven earned runs in 42 1/3 innings during the regular season, lasted only 3 2/3 innings against Knox.

Ormond (4-2) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs, five of them earned, seven hits, two walks, and striking out one.

Junior Paul Mills (Moline, IL, Moline) earned the win on the mound for the Prairie Fire.  Mills (4-1) tossed 8 1/3 innings and surrendered five earned runs, eight hits, and two walks with five strikeouts.  Senior reliever Nikko Juarez (Momence, IL, Bishop McNamara) recorded the final two outs to preserve the victory.

Mills retired the first seven Grinnell batters in order before issuing a walk.  "Paul Mills was outstanding," Isaacson said.  "(He) just took over."

The performance by Mills took pressure off of the Knox bullpen in preparation for the possibility of more than one game on Saturday.

"I know my pitch count was up there, but Coach (Isaacson) has had a lot of trust in me and he knew that I wanted to battle," Mills said.

The Pioneers scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Prairie Fire lead to 6-1.  Knox plated a run in the top of the fifth on a double by junior Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) that scored first-year Blake Newberg (Moline, IL, Rock Island Alleman) for a 7-1 advantage while Grinnell answered with two runs in the home half of the fifth to get within 7-3.

The Prairie Fire put the game out of reach by scoring four times in the seventh inning to build the lead to 11-3.

Tallman reached on a throwing error that scored two of the runs, followed by an RBI single from Weaver and a double by Smoy that drove home the fourth run of the frame.

The Prairie Fire scored their last run of the game on a solo homer by junior Jackson White (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake Central), his third of the season.

Grinnell refused to go down without a fight, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The loss was the second of the day for the Pioneers and eliminated them from the tournament.

Weaver had four hits and four RBIs to lead Knox on offense.  Tallman added three hits, three runs driven in, and three runs scored while White contributed two hits and four runs and Smoy had a pair of hits and two RBIs.

The Prairie Fire play St. Norbert College (25-12) for the second time in the tournament.  The loser of the game on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Ripon College's Francis Field goes home.  The winner joins host Ripon in the championship.  The Red Hawks are 2-0 in the double elimination tournament going into Saturday's games.

Game 1

St. Norbert College's stingy pitching held Knox to two hits in a 7-0 loss on Friday in the Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament.

After a six-hour rain delay, the Prairie Fire took the field against St. Norbert.  Green Knight starting pitcher Matt Freeman threw his fifth complete game of the season and first shutout while the SNC offense banged out 10 hits.

Junior Peter Marquardt (Clarendon Hills, lL, Hinsdale Central) took the mound for Knox (21-12) and ran into trouble in the first inning.  A two-out, bases-loaded double that Alex Larsen ripped down the left field line scored a pair of runs for the Knights, which was all the offensive support Freeman needed.

Freeman (5-2) was perfect through four innings on 29 pitches.

Senior Ryan Hoffman (Sugar Grove, IL, Marmion Academy) had the first hit of the game for the Prairie Fire in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Freeman surrendered only one more hit, a single by junior Phil Tallman (Park Ridge, IL, Maine South) in the sixth inning.

The Green Knights (25-11) added a run in the fifth for a 3-0 lead, scored three more times in the seventh to go up 6-0, and then concluded the scoring with a run in the ninth inning.

Marquardt (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season.  He threw 6 1/3 innings and allowed five runs (three earned), five hits, one walk, and struck out three.

Senior Gabe Ayers (Hanna City, IL, Farmington) came on in relief of Marquardt in the seventh inning and worked the final 2 2/3 innings of the contest.  He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Knox next plays Grinnell College in an elimination game at 6:30 p.m. at Barlow Park in Ripon, Wisconsin.

The Pioneers (13-20) dropped their first game of the tournament 9-3 against host Ripon College.  The Prairie Fire took three out of four games from Grinnell during the regular season.