DE PERE – St. Norbert College battled with Benedictine University in two tight games at Van Alstine Field, falling short by scores of 11-9 and 15-9 in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference doubleheader.
The Green Knights (6-18, 1-11 NACC) held leads in both contests for several innings before late scoring runs from Benedictine changed the momentum.
After trailing 4-0 after three innings, the Green Knights scored five runs in the fourth, with four of the runs coming off a grand slam from Devin Geary (pictured) to make it 5-4 in favor of St. Norbert. Keeping the Eagles at bay for an inning, the Eagles took back the lead in the sixth with six runs to make it 10-5. The Green Knights responded with two runs in the eighth, with a Matt Perry single RBI scoring Matt Schuck and a sacrifice fly from Will DeBruin scoring Jake Lucas.
St. Norbert had two more runs in the ninth after a Dawson Schmidt single RBI and Schuch ground out scored one runner each. The Eagles held off the late St. Norbert run and took an 11-9 victory.
Trevor Reinhardt and Perry each had two hits. Reinhardt took the loss after pitching five innings and allowing eight hits and seven runs with three strikeouts and walks.
The Green Knights took a commanding 5-0 after three innings in the second game, with a DeBruin double and an A.J. Kisting single scoring two runs each. The Eagles responded with two solo home runs to make it 5-2, before a Matt Shuck run on a sacrifice fly made it 6-2 shortly afterwards.
Benedictine continued to chip away at the lead and came within a run in the seventh. A Perry solo home run gave St. Norbert a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the inning, but a 3 RBI home run from the Eagles made it 8-7 and gave Benedictine its first lead of the game.
A second home run from Geary in the doubleheader gave the Green Knights a 9-8 lead. The Eagles won the game in the ninth, scoring six runs off two home runs as the Eagles took the sweep with a 15-9 win.
Kisting had the lone multi-hit game with two, going 2-for-3 from the plate. Perry took the loss, pitching one inning with one strikeout.
