GALESBURG, Illinois – The Ripon baseball program started Midwest Conference play with a split, racing past Knox 18-1 (seven innings) before falling 9-8 to the Prairie Fire on Saturday afternoon at Blodgett Field.
 
Ripon (5-9, 1-1 MWC) got on the board quickly in game one. After Owen Gerhardt and Alex Pankratz reached to open the game, a double steal scored Gerhardt to produce the first run. Two batters later, Pankratz scored on a wild pitch to double the Red Hawk lead.
 
Knox (9-8, 1-1 MWC) conceded four more runs in the third. With runners on the corners and one out, Jack Anderson drove home David Kleier on a sacrifice fly. After Pankratz stole second to put a runner in scoring position, former Knox standout Jason Clark punished his old team with an RBI single as Ripon continued to pour it on. On the next at-bat, Evan Olson connected on a two-run homer to left field, finishing off a crooked inning for the Red Hawks.
 
Ripon tacked on four more runs in the fifth to go up 10-0. With runners on second and third, a two-out, two-run single by Gabriel Zielinski padded the Red Hawk lead. Then, Gerhardt plated a pair on a double to left-center, extending Ripon's dominance in the MWC opener.
 
After back-to-back singles by Clark and Olson in the sixth, Chase Hanselman smacked a three-run homer to left-center as the rout continued. Three batters later, Kleier connected on a two-run home run to give Ripon a 15-0 lead.
 
Knox got one back in the bottom of the sixth, scoring its first run of the day on a two-out, RBI triple. However, Ripon starter Blaine Wahlen stranded a runner on third to end the inning.
 
Ripon wasn't done in the seventh, tallying three more runs. Crete Slattery doubled home Pankratz before Alex Ramus scored on a wild pitch. With two outs, Kyler Hickman joined the party with an RBI single to score Slattery. Wahlen sent the Prairie Fire down scoreless in the seventh as Ripon won its conference opener in a big way.
 
Offensively, seven different Red Hawks had multi-hit games: Gerhardt (2x5, two RBI, run), Pankratz (2x3, two walks, three runs), Clark (2x5, RBI, two runs), Olson (2x4, two RBI, run), Chase Hanselman (2x5, three RBI, two runs), Zielinski (2x5, two RBI, two runs) and Kleier (2x4, two RBI, three runs). As a team, Ripon belted three home runs, pounded out 16 hits and had a team OPS of 1.267.
 
Wahlen dazzled on the mound. He pitched all seven innings, allowing just one run and eight hits in picking up the win. He also struck out six and did not allow a walk over 91 pitches.
 
The scoring eased up at the onset of game two, as the teams headed to the third inning scoreless. However, a pair of home runs gave Ripon a 3-0 lead in the third – first Eli DiCarlo belted a solo shot before Pankratz followed with a two-run homer.
 
Knox added a solo home run in the bottom half to cut into its deficit, but Ripon starter Mitchell Lukasik stranded a runner on base to end the threat. The Red Hawks got the run right back in the top of the fourth, as Hickman scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Ripon tacked on another after Pankratz singled home Zielinski, and the visitors led 5-1 after three and a half.
 
The lead grew to 8-1 in the sixth, as Pankratz reached on a fielder's choice and a Knox error plated two more. Then, a stolen base and error scored Pankratz to buoy Ripon's lead.
 
However, Knox chipped away in the sixth with two runs. The Prairie Fire then added one each in the seventh and the eighth, but Ripon headed to the ninth up three runs. An RBI double brought Knox within two runs before a walk-off, three-run homer gave the hosts their first conference win of the season.
 
Pankratz had another standout day offensively, going 3-for-5 with four runs driven in and two runs scored. DiCarlo also had a three-hit day, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Hickman was the third Red Hawk with a multi-hit outing as the junior went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Lukasik was solid on the mound, tossing seven complete innings in 100 pitches. He scattered nine hits and three earned runs. Matt Miller took the loss for Ripon.
 
NEXT UP: Ripon finishes its series with the Prairie Fire on Sunday, March 30 with a single game beginning at noon.
 
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