Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - In what was their final tune-up before their Midwest Conference season begins, the Ripon College baseball team made a statement that they are in midseason form with a pair of convincing wins at Lakeland College. The Red Hawks won the first game 11-1 in seven innings, before completing the sweep with a 9-2 victory in game two.

Despite the two big wins, it was Lakeland (6-15) who scored the day's first run, crossing the plate on a groundout in the bottom of the second inning of the first game. That lead didn't even last one full inning, as Ripon (7-9) scored a pair of runs to take the lead in the top of the third, which saw the first three batters reach base. Tom Sawyer scored the Red Hawks' first run on a double play, with the team's other run in that frame scoring on a Lakeland error.

Ripon added four more runs in the fourth, three of which were unearned thanks to a passed ball and Lakeland fielding error. Mitchell Busch recorded an RBI double in the inning, with the big blow coming on a two-run single off the bat of Stan Mrozinski. Three more Ripon runs crossed the plate in the fifth on RBI doubles from Busch and Nick Schmitt and a run-scoring single by Sam Waters. Ripon completed their scoring barrage in the seventh, scoring runs on singles by Schmitt and Nick Uhen.

Ripon's 11 runs came on 11 hits, as Busch led the way with three base knocks. Michael Polcyn, Schmitt and Waters each added a pair of hits in the contest, while Schmitt also scored three runs. Aaron Langdon (2-0) picked up the win, scattering three hits in two scoreless innings.

In the second game, Ripon was the first team to score, plating a run in the top of the first on an RBI single by Schmitt. That lead lasted one inning, as Lakeland tied things up in the second and took their first lead of the game with another run in the third. Ripon got both of those runs back in the fourth, which saw Uhen and Dakotah Kirchenwitz drive in one run apiece with a single and fielder's choice, respectively.

Ripon broke the game wide open in the fifth when Polcyn crushed his fifth home run of the season over the right field wall for a 5-2 Ripon lead. The Red Hawks added two more runs in the inning on an error and an RBI single by Jake Reinke, before scoring once more in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Polcyn finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate to raise his season batting average to .466. Reinke and Schmitt also recorded two hits for the Red Hawks, who finished with 10 hits as a team. Ethan Bemowski (1-0) recorded the win, pitching one scoreless inning without allowing a hit and striking out one of the four batters he faced.

The Red Hawks will try to build on their current four-game winning streak this weekend when they'll begin their conference season against St. Norbert. They will travel to Green Bay's Joannes Stadium for a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, before hosting SNC for a double-dip at Francis Field on Sunday, which will also begin at 1.