MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Thanks to a huge comeback, Beloit College’s baseball team opened its 2024 season with a split on the road Saturday against the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Beloit dropped the first game of the twinbill 5-1, but took the nightcap 15-12 in 11 innings, coming back from a 12-3 deficit.
Aiden Phipps (0-1) started on the mound for Beloit in the first game and allowed four runs in the second. He pitched five innings in all, allowing five hits, walking no one and striking out four. Erick Tiegs came on to pitch three innings, allowing two hits and one run while fanning four.
Coming off one of their best seasons ever offensively, the Buccaneers didn’t manage their first hit in the opening game until Miles Souza singled in the fifth inning. Matt O’Leary added a double in the sixth, but like Souza was left stranded.
Beloit finally broke through for a run in the top of the ninth when O’Leary smacked his second double, Evan Zenger walked and a passed ball advanced both runners. O’Leary scored on Souza’s single.
O’Leary was 2-for-4 and Souza 3-for-4 to combine for all of Beloit’s hits.
The Bucs’ offense eventually got on track in the second game.
Beloit scored three times in the top of the first, but MSOE went on top with four runs off Beloit starter Kaiya Nishino. The hosts tacked on two runs in the fourth through seventh innings for a 12-3 lead.
That seemingly commanding lead disappeared as Beloit scored seven times in the eighth and twice in the ninth to tie it. After a scoreless 10th, Brett Kiger blasted a three-run home run in the top of the 11th to give Beloit the 15-12 victory.
Beloit outhit MSOE 19-16, led by Zenger going 5-for-7 with two runs scored and an RBI. O’Leary was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI. Souza, Kiger and Vogel all had two hits with Souza and Vogel both knocking in three runs and Kiger knocking in five.
Eamon Burke pitched three innings and allowed nine hits and six runs. Harvey Pena went four innings, allowing three hits and two runs, but with six strikeouts and picked up the win. Jack Alport set MSOE down in order in the bottom of the 11th with two strikeouts to earn the save.
The Bucs are now off until the week of March 9-16 when they travel to Auburndale, Florida, for the RussMatt Invitational.
• LINESCORES:
Game 1
MSOE 5, BELOIT 1
Beloit 000 000 001 — 1 5 1
MSOE 040 000 01x — 5 7 0
Leading hitters: BC, O’Leary 2x4, 1 run; Souza 3x4, 1 rbi. MSOE, Hall 2x5, 1 rbi; Wojciecho 2x4, 2 rbi. 2B: O’Leary, Wojciocho 2, Kalitowski.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): BC, Phipps (L,0-1) 5.0-5-4-4-0-4; Tiegs 3.0-2-1-1-3-4. MSOE, Morton (W,1-0) 4.0-0-0-0-1-3; Vincent 5.0-5-1-1-1-5.
2nd game
BELOIT 15, MSOE 12
Beloit 300 000 072 03 — 15 19 0
MSOE 400 222 200 00 — 12 16 0
Leading hitters: BC, Alport 1x3, 3 runs, 1 rbi; O’Leary 3x5, 3 runs, 1 rbi; Vogel 2x6, 1 run, 3 rbi; Kiger 2x7, 2 runs, 5 rbi; Zenger 5x7, 2 runs, 1 rbi; Souza 2x7, 3 rbi. MSOE, Hall 2x6, 2 runs, 1 rbi; Meidenbau 2x4, 1 run, 2 rbi; Truitt 3x6, 2 runs, 1 rbi; Bosque 3x6, 1 run, 2 rbi; Wojciecho 1x4, 2 runs, 2 rbi , Kalitowksi 2x5, 1 rbi. 2B: Vogel, Hall, Truitt, Beauchamp, Wojciecho. 3B: Bosque. HR: Kiger, Overley, Meidenbau.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): BC, Nishino, 3.0-4-4-4-1-1; Burke 3.0-9-6-6-1-2; Pena (W,1-0) 4.0-3-2-2-4-6; Alport (S1) 1.0-0-0-0-0-2. MSOE, Hamilton 4.0-5-3-3-2-5; Gronert 3.2-9-7-7-2-5; Carstens 0.2-2-2-2-1-1; Shepski (L,0-1) 2.2-3-3-3-1-4.
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