Ace right-hander Kole Hinrichsen recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts and guided the Rams to a 9-5 Game 1 baseball win over Midwest Conference foe Beloit on Senior Day Sunday at Ash Park Field.
The Buccaneers came back to win the nightcap, 7-4. The rubber game of the pivotal MWC series will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit, Wis.
Cornell remains in the mix for a berth in the four-team MWC Tournament going into the final week of the regular season. The Rams play a three-game set at Ripon next weekend.
Hinrichsen (3-2) pitched into the eighth inning, allowing six hits and four runs. The hard-throwing junior fanned 10 and walked just two. Preston Wright came on to finish off the Buccaneers (15-19 overall, 11-9 MWC) over the final 1.2 innings.
Seven of Cornell’s 11 hits went for extra bases. James Kent led the attack, going 3-for-4 with a double, a solo homer and two runs. Seth Beals and Colin Gierula had two hits apiece. Gierula drove in a pair.
In Game 2, Kale Rose and Beals tallied three hits apiece and combined for three runs from the top of Cornell’s lineup. The Rams outhit the visiting team, 12-8, despite coming up short.
The Buccaneers broke open a 3-2 lead with a three-run seventh inning, scoring all three with two outs. Cornell scored twice in the bottom of the ninth before its comeback bid stalled.
Rose, Drew Logel and Josiah Shaw each had a double for Cornell, which left 10 runners on base.
Between games, coach Seth Wing recognized his four seniors in the baseball program – Easton Jensen, Tony Neuman, Ryan Rader and manager Blake Thornton.
The program’s annual Jim Nowak Award, symbolizing perseverance, was presented to sophomore pitcher James Hoyle and junior outfielder Dylan Vargas.
Earlier in the week, Cornell overcame an early four-run deficit and got a big lift from its bullpen in an 8-4 baseball win over Midwest Conference foe Monmouth at Ash Park Field.
Junior right-hander Kriegel was terrific in relief, blanking the Fighting Scots over four hitless innings to close out the game. Kriegel (3-4) struck out seven of the 15 batters he faced and issued one walk.
Starter Cai Brevig allowed three earned runs in four innings, leaving with a 4-2 deficit. Chad Dzierba pitched a shutdown inning in the fifth, enabling Cornell’s comeback.
The Rams pushed ahead 5-4 with the three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth. Colin Gierula, Seth Beals and James Kent all had RBI singles in the decisive frame.
Mancke doubled and scored an insurance run in the seventh. The Rams plated two unearned runs in the eighth for the final margin of victory.
Drew Logel recorded his team-high 12th multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a pair of runs. Mancke doubled twice, Kale Rose had two hits and Gierula drove in two runs.