RIPON, Wis. -,Ripon's baseball team took the first two games of its four-game series against Beloit College on Saturday, earning a doubleheader sweep of the Buccaneers. The Red Hawks won the first game 8-3, before taking the nightcap as well, 7-4.
In the day's first contest, Ripon (9-10, 5-1 MWC North) broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the second when
Bradley Knoblock scored on a Beloit fielding error. They added another run in the third on a
Mitchell Busch single, which scored
Michael Polcyn. The Buccaneers (14-12, 4-6 MWC North) tied the score in the fourth, scoring once on a single and another time on an error.
Ripon grabbed the lead back in the seventh when
Nick Schmitt scored on an RBI single by Knoblock, but Beloit answered with a run of their own on a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth to tie the game yet again.
The Red Hawks would put the game away in the bottom of the eighth however, scoring five runs on five hits, with the rally beginning with a leadoff double off the bat of
Dakotah Kirchenwitz. He would score the go ahead run later in the inning on a bases loaded single by Schmitt, which also scored
Nick Kita.
Nate Siudak,
Randy Finger, and Knoblock also drove in a run in the inning.
Kirchenwitz, Schmitt, and Busch led the Red Hawks with three hits apiece, while Finger recorded two base knocks.
Ethan Bemowski (2-1) picked up the win, pitching one inning of hitless ball in relief.
The day's second game saw Beloit jump on top early with two runs in the top of the first, scoring on an RBI double from Adrian Peil, and a run-scoring single by Alex Lawrence.
Ripon wasn't trailing for long, as they scored four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first. Schmitt tied the game with one swing of the bat with a two-run double, before Siudak and Knoblock added one RBI apiece. Schmitt added another RBI the following inning on a sac fly that scored Kirchenwitz.
Beloit added a run in the fourth on an RBI double by Mike Gulve, but Ripon got that run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double of their own from Siudak. The Red Hawks added an insurance run in the eighth on a single by Busch to put the game on ice.
Ripon's two through six hitters finished a combined 10-22 (.455) with five runs scored and six RBI. They were led by Schmitt's three RBI, while Kirchenwitz, Polcyn, and Schmitt each scored two runs.
Marshall Zahn (2-2) earned the victory, allowing just two earned runs on nine hits, while striking out nine in his six innings.
Andrew Wood was credited with his first career save, as he sat down the final four Beloit batters of the game, striking out one.
The Red Hawks will face Beloit in another doubleheader on Sunday. That twinbill will begin at Noon in Beloit.
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