MARQUETTE — The Gladstone baseball team clinched the Great Northern Conference championship with a sweep of Marquette here Thursday.

The Braves won the opener 3-0 and then pounded the Redmen 22-3 in the nightcap.

“It was nice to know we locked up the GNC after the first game,” Braves’ coach Kelly Shea said. “After the post-huddle in the second game, we celebrated that we went 11-0 in the GNC and won the first ever GNC title for baseball. That was something that was on our list when we sat down as a team in the start of the season. It was something we wanted to accomplish, and we did that. We were able to check that off our list.”

The opener remained scoreless until the fourth inning.

A bunt single by Gladstone’s Jared Crow scored Cody Frappier for the first run of the game. Cole Hansen then singled on a hard ground shot to score Cooper Cavadeas to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.

“The first game got off to a really slow start,” Shea said. “That’s happened the last few games, and I’m a little concerned about that. Once again, our pitching and our defense kept us in the game.”

Zach Hanson earned the win for the Braves over six innings. He allowed five hits, no runs and one walk while striking out three. Crow finished with two RBIs and two hits, and Cole Hansen notched one hit and one RBI.

The Braves then exploded for 22 runs in just four innings in the nightcap.

“Once we get comfortable, the bats just take off,” Shea said.

“It was quite a change from the first game, where we had hardly any good swings at all. We just started hitting the ball all over the place. I don’t know what the reason is for our slow starts, but the bats sure came around in the second game.”

The Braves (24-6) put up seven runs in the opening frame. Drake Forrest started it off with a line drive double that scored two. Gladstone then picked up a couple runs on successive wild pitches, and added three more before the end of the inning.

After five more Braves’ runs in the top of the second, Marquette collected two of its own to cut its deficit to 12-2. The Redmen picked up their final run in the fourth.

Crow earned the win in one inning. He allowed one run on one hit and walked one. Carson Shea pitched three innings in relief, fanning three. He allowed two unearned runs on three hits and two walks.

Caden Alworden and Ian Schwalbach both notched three RBIs. Martin, Forrest, Cavadeas, Christian Creten and Cole Hansen all finished with two RBIs. Martin also went 3 for 3 and Cavadeas went 2 for 2.

Gladstone hosts Green Bay Preble today at 5:30 for a single game.