The Rams fell 15-3 and 6-5 against Lawrence in doubleheader play.
Lawrence pulled away late in the opener to claim a 15-3 win and wound up taking two of three games from the Rams.
Junior left-hander Will Miller gave the Rams eight strong innings in the nightcap. He allowed six hits and only two earned runs while striking out seven. Miller left with the score knotted at 4-4 through eight innings.
The Vikings scored twice in the top of the ninth to regain the lead at 6-4. Drew Logel belted a solo home run to center with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. His fifth homer of the season brought Cornell within 6-5, although that’s where the rally ended.
Cornell gained its first lead of the day on a sacrifice fly by Colin Konicek that made it 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
Earlier in the series, the Rams rallied for a win over Lawrence 10-9.
The Vikings plated five runs in the top of the eighth to take a 9-8 lead. Cornell reliever Carter Kriegel (2-4) prevented further damage with a bases-loaded strikeout to end the inning.
Center fielder Josiah Shaw started Cornell’s comeback in the bottom of the eighth with a leadoff single, his third hit of the game. Shaw came around with the tying run on an opposite-field hit by freshman Seth Beals.
The Rams baseball team also split two games with rival Grinnell at Pioneer Park.
Cornell freshman Cai Brevig notched his first collegiate pitching win in the 8-4 Game 1 victory. Grinnell struck 10 times in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the nightcap, 16-6.
Brevig limited the Pioneers to five hits and one earned run over five innings, leaving with a 6-3 lead. Cornell’s bullpen of Bobby Petersen, Vince Zipperer and Hinrichsen finished the job, allowing just three hits and one run the rest of the game.
Beals went 3-for-5, while Gierula had two hits and drove in a pair. Rose also had two RBIs for the Rams, who prevailed despite leaving 15 runners on base.
The Pioneers put a sudden end to Game 2, just after Cornell rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth to tie the score at 6-6. Grinnell unloaded for 10 runs in the seventh, capped by a three-run homer with one out that finished the night.
The Rams used seven pitchers in Game 2, and 11 in the doubleheader. Chad Dzierba and Julian Skosey-LaLonde both gave Cornell one scoreless inning in relief.