RIPON, Wis. – The 2011 Midwest Conference Baseball Championship is scheduled to begin this Friday and Saturday, May 13-14, hosted by Beloit College. Beloit earned a tournament bid for the first time in school history and will be joined by Grinnell, Ripon and Monmouth. This will be the third time in as many seasons that Grinnell has made the tournament while Ripon is making their 15^th trip in the last 16 years and the Fight Scots are participating for the 11^th time in the last 12 years.

Conference tournament action opens at 9 a.m. on Friday when the Pioneers will take on Ripon, at Pohlmann Field, while Beloit will host Monmouth at 9:30 a.m. at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium. The winners of the two games will meet at 1:00 p.m. at Strong Stadium, while the loser’s bracket game is scheduled right after at 4:00 p.m.

Beloit (23-10, 12-4 MWC North) won the MWC North Division for the first time in school history under head coach Dave DeGeorge and will host the 2011 MWC Tournament. The Bucs boast the league’s best staff that has compiled a 3.98 ERA, a full run better than the next best team. The Beloit hurlers have combined for 10 saves, nine runners picked off, and allowed only 63 walks, all bests in the MWC. Alex Norman leads the staff into the weekend tournament with a league-high six wins while posting a 2.70 ERA in nine starts. Norman is also holding hitters to a .235 average and holds a 1.02 WHIP. Andrew Edwards and Mike Kovach both hold 4-2 records in a combined 13 starts to solidify the Beloit staff. Aaron Bushur has been the bullpen ace with five saves and a 3-1 record to go along with a team-low ERA of 1.09. Offensively the team is led by Jake Tresemer who is hitting .352 with 13 doubles (2^nd in MWC) and 19 RBI. Kovach pulls double duty and is hitting .308 with team-high’s in RBI (27) and stolen bases (13). Drew Oswald (.339, 2 HR, 22 RBI) and Jordan Jaenicke (.308, .458 OBP, 25 RBI) also add solid production to a deep Beloit lineup.

In his 18^th season as skipper for the Fighting Scots Roger Sander guided Monmouth (17-13, 6-6 MWC South) to their 16^th MWC Tournament during his tenure. Offensively Monmouth heads into the tournament with the second most home runs in the MWC (17) while hitting .285 as a team. Ross Donnan hits a team-best .371 this season, while starting all 30 games, collecting 11 doubles with a 1.006 OPS. Donnan also hit five home runs and drove in 33, both best on the team while Matt VanDusen hit three home runs and drove in 31 in 113 at bats. Mitch Johnson holds a team-best OBP of .476, good for fourth in the conference, to go along with a .340 average and nine home runs. Ray Gerard leads the staff with a perfect 4-0 record and a 3.09 ERA in five starts. Gerard is second in the league in opponent batting average (.224) while Lucas Skul and Larry Milsteadt each have four wins on the season.

#1S Grinnell (17-16, 11-1 MWC South) vs. #2N Ripon (17-17, 11-5 MWC North)

Grinnell (17-16, 11-1 MWC South) aims for the school’s first MWC Tournament Championship under 17 year head coach Tim Hollibaugh when they travel to Beloit. The Pioneers will send out one of the most feared hitters in the league, Mike Nodzenski, who stabilizes an offense that is atop the league leaders in almost every category. Nodzenski, a two-time defending MWC South Division Player of the Year, leads the conference in batting average (.487), OPS (1.492), hits (56), RBI (45) and home runs (12). Michael Goldfien and Greg Suryn are ranked fourth and fifth in the MWC in batting average, respectively, to add to a formidable Pioneers offense. Suryn (.381, 1.183 OPS) leads the league with 18 doubles and seven triples while driving in 32 runs and Goldfien (.396, 1.007 OPS) contributes 10 doubles and a team-high 24 walks to the lineup. Reigning MWC South Pitcher of the Year Ben Pope once against anchors a squad with a 4-2 record and a 3.04 ERA (4^th in MWC). Pope is holding opposing batters to a .234 average while Will Pahos also has four wins and a 3.33 ERA.

Ripon (17-17, 11-5 MWC North) returns to the MWC Tournament for the 16^th time in the last 17 season under the watch of head coach Bob Gillespie. Ripon bring a well rounded team to Beloit ranking in the top three in the MWC in most offensive and defensive categories. The Red Hawks are one of only three teams to hit .300 during the regular season (.301) while finishing with the most hits (343) and second most runs scored (231). Nick Beaman is third in the conference in batting average (.398) while gathering 51 hits (2^nd MWC) and 34 RBI (3^rd MWC). John Henrickson hit .381 with 12 doubles, four triples and two home runs while Kyle Bosquez has seven doubles and 27 RBI to go along with a .339 average. The Red Hawks hold the second best ERA in the league (5.05) and finished third in opposing batting average (.293). Jason Wierschke (4-2) holds batters to a league-low .182 average while having the third best ERA (2.88). Kurt Roeder threw a team-high 54.1 innings this season en route to a 5-2 record with a 3.15 ERA. T.J. Pierce earned four saves this season in 13 appearances while striking out almost a batter an inning for Ripon.