DE PERE - St. Norbert College faced its first nationally ranked foe of the season and forged a split of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference games against Aurora University at Van Alstine Field at Mel Nicks Sports Complex.
The Green Knights won the opener 10-7 behind Sebastian Dubois' walk off three-run home run and then dropped the nightcap 12-7 to Aurora, which entered the game ranked No. 17 in the D3baseball.com Top 25.
St. Norbert entered the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1 trailing 7-2. The Green Knights would get three runs in the frame to get to within 7-5, with
Trevor Reinhardt plating two runs on a single and then scoring on an outfield error after
Isaac Gerhardt had singled.
In the bottom of the ninth,
Trevor Cornell opened the inning with a single, and Reinhardt was hit by a pitch. After a sacrifice bunt,
Eric Kramer doubled to tie the game.
Adam Cootway was then intentionally walked to set up a potential double play, but Dubois launched the first offering from Skyler Yamamoto off the scoreboard in right field to set off a wild celebration at home plate.
Cootway hit a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Green Knights a 2-1 lead. Aurora scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings before scoring four runs in the seventh inning to take a 7-2 edge.
St. Norbert had just seven hits in the opener, with Kramer going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Noah Lindsley earned the win with an inning of scoreless relief.
In Game 2, St. Norbert took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a Reinhardt solo home run. Aurora scored three times in the fourth but the Green Knights got a run back in the bottom half on a
Caden Uhlenbrauck RBI groundout. The Spartans scored twice in the fifth but St. Norbert tied the game at 5-5 with three runs in the bottom half, with
Nick Volz racing home on an Aurora error, a Cootway sacrifice fly and a single by Dubois.
Aurora scored once in the sixth but St. Norbert came back with two runs to take a 7-6 lead, with Reinhardt and
Luke Follmann ripping back-to-back RBI doubles. The Spartans would pull away in the top of the seventh, scoring six times with the decisive blow a two-out grand slam by Corey Vondra.
St. Norbert had 14 hits in the nightcap, with Reinhardt going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run. Cootway and Follmann were both 2-for-4 with a double, while Volz was 2-for-5. Lindsley took the loss in relief for the Green Knights.
