The Buccaneers' sweep of St. Norbert College Monday at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium was no ordinary pair of wins. Beloit registered an exciting ninth-inning comeback to win the opener 7-6 and followed with a 9-6 win that featured a whirlwind of drama to remain unbeaten at 6-0 this season and maintain an unblemished league record, 4-0.
The Bucs and Green Knights traded a single run in the first and a pair of runs in the fourth. A wild pitch allowed
Nick Schmidt to score in the bottom of the fifth to give the Bucs the lead 4-3 over halfway through.
Following a scoreless sixth, St. Norbert's leadoff man tagged his second homer of the game, this time a two-run shot to reclaim the lead, 5-4, for the Green Knights but Beloit didn't fold.
Deven Irwin opened the bottom of the eighth with a double to left center, advanced to third on a balk and crossed the plate on
Matt Crandall's RBI groundout to knot the game 5-5.
In the top of the ninth, SNC capitalized on a Buccaneer miscue to take the lead 6-5 but the Bucs were once again up to the task.
Bronson Balholm and
James Wicker notched back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the frame and tie the game 6-6. A groundout had Wicker, the game-winning run, just 90-feet away. Adding to the suspense, St. Norbert opted to intentionally walk
Matt O'Leary and
Brett Kiger to load the bases. Irwin capped his phenomenal game at the plate with a game-winning single that cleared the right fielder's head to plate Wicker and give the Bucs the game one victory.
Irwin, Schmidt and
Garrison Ferone each tallied three hits in the game to lead Beloit offensively.
Kaiya Nishino came in for the final 2.1 innings of relief work to pick up the win. He allowed just one hit and struck out two to register his first win on the mound this season.
The nightcap was loaded with drama including more interference calls than many see in a season. The Bucs took an early lead scoring three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first. Schmidt led off the frame with a single up the middle and scored on a one-out RBI double to centerfield from Wicker. O'Leary brought in another run on a single to center and Irwin tallied a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 Beloit.
After three scoreless frames, St. Norbert came back to even the game with a pair of runs in the fifth and a single run in the sixth. The Bucs regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Ferone tagged a double down the right field line to open the inning. Kiger's one-out single to left field had runners on the corners and forced a change on the mound for the Green Knights. Irwin drew a walk to load the bases and an
Evan Zenger groundout was good for an RBI and the lead 4-3.
St. Norbert used a single, a couple of walks, a hit batter and a Buc miscue to tally two runs in the top of the eighth to retake the lead 6-4 but the momentum swing wouldn't last long. In the bottom of the inning, Schmidt drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Balholm drove a ball deep and it looked like the Green Knight centerfielder lost it in the sun momentarily but regained his composure before the ball hit his mitt and fell to the ground allowing Schmidt to score from second and narrow the gap to one, 6-5. Wicker followed with a bunt single and Ferone made it back-to-back hits with a single of his own to knot the game 6-6. SNC registered two quick outs following another pitching change but Irwin came up clutch once again. He bent a ball just inside the right field line for an RBI single to make it 7-6 Beloit. Zenger took one for the team and Crandall followed with an RBI single up the middle. The Bucs wrapped up their five-run innings plating their ninth run of the contest on a balk.
Beloit's defense secured the win with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to remain undefeated this season.
The Bucs registered 14 hits in game two, including a 4-5 performance from Schmidt, while the defense held SNC to just five hits in the contest. Wicker, Ferone and Crandall also notched multiple hits in the nightcap.
Jake Matise tallied 1.2 innings of no-hit relief work to tally his first win of the season.
