The Grinnell College baseball team wrapped up its spring break trip to Florida with a pair of wins and two losses.
The Pioneers defeated Elmhurst College 8-1 and Amherst College 12-11in 11 innings, and lost a twin bill to Trinity College by scores of 5-1 and 10-1.
In the win over Elmhurst, the Pioneers pounded out 16 hits including a 4-for-4 effort by Drew Davis ’13. Mike Nodzenski ’12 and Matt Blumenreich ’13 added three hits apiece.
Winning pitcher Ben Pope ’12 gave up just four hits and one earned run in 7 2/3 innings of work, fanning seven in the process. Andrew Kelley ’14 finished off the game with hitless baseball.
Elmhurst got its lone run in the first inning. Grinnell took the lead for good with two runs in the second on an RBI single by Matt Skelly ’12 and RBI double to left by Nodzenski.
Grinnell made it 3-1 in the third on Colin Tremblay’s ’14 run-scoring single.
In the fifth, the Pioneers tacked on three more runs as Michael Goldfien ’12 plated two runs with a single and Nodzenski knocked in another with a single.
The Pioneers finished off the scoring with two runs in the sixth, as Kainoa Inafuku ’14 stole home and Skelly knocked in another run with a sacrifice fly.
Grinnell matched its hit total of 16 in the win over Amherst, as Nodzenski went 4-for-6 with four RBIs and Ronnie Gray ’12 collected three hits.
Kelley was the winning pitcher in relief.
Amherst stormed out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning before Grinnell got a run back in the second frame on Graham Conlon’s RBI double.
The Pioneers continued to close the gap, scoring a run in the fourth on Gray’s RBI groundout and in the fifth when Skelly grounded out for an RBI.
However, Amherst pounded out three runs in the seventh for a 9-3 lead.
Then Grinnell caught fire, erupting for seven runs in the eighth inning. Nodzenski singled in two runs during one at bat and also had an RBI double. Conlon and Jackson Markey ’14 added RBI singles while bases-loaded walks by Skelly and Goldfien allowed two more runners to cross the plate.
Amherst forced extra innings with a run in the ninth. After a scoreless 10th, Amherst got a run in the top of the 11th for an 11-10 lead.
Not to be outdone, Nodzenski tied the game with a single swing of the bat as he homered to right to lead off the bottom of the 11th. J.R. Downick ’15 followed with a double to left and moved to third on Gray’s infield single. After Conlon was intentionally walked, Inafuku was hit by a pitch to end the game.
Grinnell managed just four hits in the 5-1 loss to Trinity. The winners scored a run in the first and three more in the third for a 4-0 lead.
Grinnell got its run in the sixth on Gray’s RBI single. Trinity closed out the game with a run in the seventh.
Max Jacobson ’14 was the losing pitcher.
The Pioneers managed five hits in the second-game loss to Trinity. The Pioneers got their lone run in the first on Conlon’s RBI single.
Trinity scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, added two more in the second and three in the third for an 8-1 lead. The winners added solo runs in the fourth and sixth frames.
Andrew Myers ’12 was the losing pitcher for Grinnell.
Grinnell, 5-11, plays Central College Wednesday at Pella. Game time is 1 p.m.
