RIPON, Wis. -- On Senior Day at Francis Field, the Ripon College baseball team delivered one of its most dramatic wins of the season, storming back from an 11-run deficit to defeat Knox College 21-18 in the final game of the Midwest Conference series on Sunday afternoon.
The Red Hawks honored their seniors before first pitch, then capped the celebration with an offensive explosion that featured 21 runs on 15 hits.
Ripon jumped in front early with a four-run first inning, highlighted a bases-clearing triple that later turned into an unearned run on an error from sophomore Alex Ramus (Appleton, Wis., Appleton North HS). Knox answered with 16 runs over the second through fourth innings, including a nine-run fourth frame, to take an 18-7 advantage.
Facing a daunting deficit, Ripon chipped away in the fourth and fifth innings before erupting for 11 runs in the sixth to tie the game at 18-18. The Red Hawks sent 15 batters to the plate in the inning, drawing three straight bases-loaded walks before key extra-base hits from senior Kyler Hickman (Tracy, Calif., Merrill F. West HS), junior Crete Slattery (Lake Geneva, Wis., Badger HS), Ramus, and senior Alex Pankratz (Waupaca, Wis., Waupaca HS) completed the comeback.
Ripon added the go-ahead run later in the sixth and an insurance run in the eighth when Ramus delivered an RBI single.
Ramus powered the offense with a historic 4-for-5 performance, hitting for the cycle while driving in nine runs. He tripled in the first inning, homered in the third, doubled in the sixth, and singled in the eighth to complete the feat. Hickman went 4-for-5 with five runs scored and three RBIs, while Pankratz added two hits and three RBIs, including a solo homer. Slattery also drove in three runs and doubled twice.
On the mound, sophomore Ryan Splitt (Bolingbrook, Ill., Bolingbrook HS) earned his first win of the season with 2.1 innings of relief, while junior Matt Miller (Orland Park, Ill., Carl Sandburg HS) closed the door over the final 2.2 innings to record the save, striking out four and allowing just two hits.
Ripon will close out the 2026 season on Tuesday, May 5, when the Red Hawks host UW-Whitewater at 2pm.
