Esteban Perez singled home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 1 of Cornell’s 3-2, 14-2 baseball doubleheader sweep over former conference foe St. Norbert Sunday at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.
Cornell handled the Green Knights in the second game, 14-2, and improved to 5-2 on the young season.
Tied 2-2 in the opener, Sean Alvarez started Cornell’s rally in the seventh with a two-out single to right field. After a walk by Kale Rose and a St. Norbert pitching change, Perez lined a 2-1 pitch into right to plate Alvarez for the walk-off victory.
Perez finished with two RBIs in Game 1, including a bases-loaded walk in the third that pushed the Rams ahead 2-1.
Grant Morris picked up the win in 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing only one hit. Starter Jake Schope scattered five hits over 5.1 innings and struck out six.
Darren Mancke, Colin Whelan and Cade Parks each had a double for the Rams.
In Game 2, Alvarez tallied three hits and Perez drove in three runs to pace Cornell, which built an 8-0 lead through two innings. Cornell accounted for 10 total hits, including five doubles.
Seth Beals went 2-for-3 with three runs from the leadoff spot. Jack Rogers doubled and stole three bases.
Starting pitcher Agustin Velazquez (1-0) earned his first victory as a Ram, limiting the Green Knights (2-8) to five hits and one earned run in six innings. Cody Zahn worked a scoreless seventh, striking out two.
Earlier in the week, Cornell fell to Mississippi University for Women’s baseball team 6-3.
The Rams gave away five unearned runs against MUW, including three in the sixth inning when their opponent broke a 3-3 tie.
Starting pitcher Lucas Brutsche gave the Rams a quality start, allowing one earned run over 5.2 innings. Morris fired 2.1 scoreless innings in relief.
Alvarez belted a two-run homer in the third that gave the Rams a 3-1 lead. Vince Zipperer went 2-for-4 and Esteban had a double for Cornell, which was outhit 10-7.
MUW capitalized on Cornell’s third error of the game in the bottom of the sixth, which led to a two-run go-ahead double with two outs.
On Thursday, Kale Rose recorded his 100th hit in a 6-3 victory over Sewanee.
Rose also went 2-for-4 with two RBIs at the plate while pitching a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save. He is the third Ram on the active roster to total 100 hits, joining Beals (103) and Mancke (111).
Rose drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk that tied it at 2-2 in the top of the seventh inning. Vince Tinajero put the Rams ahead in the eighth with a sacrifice fly, following by a run-scoring single from Beals.
Mancke added insurance with a solo homer in the ninth, marking Cornell’s first round-tripper of the season.
Beals, Alvarez and Zipperer collected two hits apiece. Alvarez and Zipperer both tripled. Mancke drove in two runs.
Winning pitcher Kaleb Whaley (1-1) fired five innings of four-hit ball in relief, allowing just one run. Rose stranded two Sewanee (6-5) runners on base in the ninth.