The Beloit College baseball team maintain their hold of first place in the Midwest Conference North Division standings with a sweep of Lawrence University Sunday afternoon. The Buccaneers topped the Vikings 7-1 and 10-0 in a seven-inning run-rule on a sunny, albeit windy, day at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium.
The MWC North Division race will come down to the final week of competition. The Bucs, now 16-2 in league play, hold first by a slim margin over the University of Chicago, 11-3 in conference. Beloit will play a four-game series with the Maroons starting with a home set Thursday, May 13. The final twinbill between the two as they square off for the division title at Chicago Saturday, May 15. The winner of the MWC North Division will host a best-of-three series against the winner of the south division Saturday, May 22 for the MWC Tournament title and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III tournament.
Compared to the first two games of the four-game set, the Buc offense took a while to get going. The Vikings plated the first run of the game, a single run in the top of the third. Beloit responded in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game on
Matt O'Leary's RBI single to right center sparking the Buc bats.
From there, Beloit's defense was stellar blanking the Vikings the rest of the way as the offense started rolling.
Bronson Balholm tallied another triple to center field to bring in one.
James Wicker plated Balholm with a double to right center to make it 3-1.
A big, four-run eighth inning for the Bucs put the finishing touches on the game.
Beloit spread the wealth offensively with eight Bucs registering hits in the game. Balholm, Wicker and O'Leary each tallied two in the contest.
Thomas Kowakowski picked up his second win of 2021 allowing just a single earned run in seven innings of work on the mound.
Zachary Miller came in for the final 2.0 innings of relief for his first save of the season.
The stellar defense from game one carried over into a nightcap that was filled with web gems. From a multitude of fantastic diving plays from
Garrison Ferone at shortstop, to O'Leary showcasing his hops to haul in a liner, to Wicker diving to the 5-6 hole, popping up and firing across the diamond for an out and
Matt Crandall slipping in the outfield on a well-hit ball to center only to recover in time to make a phenomenal catch at the warning track, there was no shortage of defensive highlights.
Defense led to offense as the Bucs opened up an 8-0 advantage after three innings. A single run in the fifth and another in the seventh halted the game early due to the run-rule.
O'Leary was a perfect 3-3 in the batter's box adding three RBI and three runs scored to lead the Buc offense.
Matthew Starr went the distance scattering five hits in the complete game shutout while striking out five and issuing just a single walk. He is 3-0 on the season.
