RIPON, Wis. - This afternoon the Beloit College Baseball team took on the Ripon College Red Hawks in a rematch of the 2023 MWC Tournament Finals. Much like a year ago, the teams split the two games. The Buccaneers (10-6, 3-2 MWC) walked away victorious in the first game, 7-2 while the Red Hawks (4-8, 1-1 MWC) fought for a 10-4 win in game two. 

In game one, Ripon scored first in the bottom of the first inning. The Bucs wouldn't tie the game up until the top of the fourth. Brett Kiger (Beloit, Wis.) put Beloit on the board with one swing of the bat. He sent a ball deep over the centerfield fence. The Red Hawks answered immediately in the bottom of the fourth and took a 2-1 lead. In the top of the sixth, Matt O'Leary (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) led off with a double and Evan Zenger (Burr Ridge, Ill.) got hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Kiger hit a fly ball to centerfield that allowed O'Leary to move over to third. With runners on the corners, Connor Vogel (Palmdale, Calif.) doubled down the left field line to score O'Leary and move Zenger from first to third. Miles Souza (Carpinteria, Calif.) grounded out to the second basemen but drove Zenger into score. Beloit took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the inning. In the top of the seventh, Jack Alport (Arlington Heights, Ill.) led off with a single, Zenger walked, and Kiger reached on an error. With the bases loaded, Vogel hit a grand slam over the left center fence. Vogel's grand slam wrapped up the scoring for game one. 

Aiden Phipps (Simi Valley, Calif.) got the start in game one for Beloit, going six innings giving up just six hits. Tommy Murray (Rockton, Ill.) came in to close the game. He shut down the Red Hawks, striking out three and giving up just one hit. 

The Red Hawks turned up their offense in game two despite the Bucs scoring right off the bat in the top of the first. Alport and O'Leary led off game two with a single each. After back-to-back strike outs, Zenger delivered the third single of the inning, scoring both runners. Ripon got one back in the bottom of the inning to make the score 2-1 after one. With a 1-2-3 inning complete in the top of the second, the Red Hawks pushed two runs across in the bottom half. By the top of the eighth, Ripon had extended their lead to three, 5-2. Seth Brankey led off the inning in a pinch hit spot. Brankey drew a walk and advanced to third on an O'Leary double to right center. Both Brankey and O'Leary came in to score when the shortstop couldn't handle a ball of the bat of Kiger. Ripon closed the door on Beloit in the bottom of the eighth when they took a 10-4 lead. 

Beloit used four pitchers in game two. Caleb Lasher (Albuquerque, N.M.) earned the start, going just one inning. Eamon Burke (Helena, Mont.) worked the next four innings, striking out three and walking one. Micah Wilk (Martinez, Calif.) pitched the sixth and seventh and Joshua Stern (Malibu, Calif.) pitched the eighth. Both Wilk and Stern recorded on strike out. 

The series will move to Beloit for game three. That game is slated for 12 pm on Saturday, March 30th at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium.