FROSTPROOF, Fla. - The Ripon baseball team ended their Spring Trip to Florida Friday afternoon with an 8-3 loss to Grinnell College.
Grinnell (2-5) scored the game's first run on an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning, but Ripon (3-7) matched that in the fourth on an RBI single by
Dakotah Kirchenwitz. Grinnell went back in front with a run in the bottom of that inning, only to see the Red Hawks tie the score once again in the top of the fifth when
Jake Reinke drew a bases loaded walk.
The Pioneers opened up the score in the sixth, scoring four runs on five hits, before adding two runs on three hits in the seventh.
Michael Polcyn gave Ripon another run with an RBI single in the eighth, but that was as close as the score would get the rest of the way.
Polcyn finished the contest with a game-high four hits, while Kirchenwitz recorded three and
Josh Oswald added two base knocks.
Matt Hecht (0-2) suffered the loss, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and striking out four in five innings of work.
Ripon will be back in action on March 28 against defending national champion UW-Whitewater. That doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. at Francis Field in Ripon.