GRINNELL – Cornell freshman Cai Brevig notched his first collegiate pitching win and cleanup batter Colin Gierula collected five hits in Tuesday's Midwest Conference baseball split with rival Grinnell at Pioneer Park.
 
The Rams rode five solid innings from Brevig in an 8-4 Game 1 victory. Grinnell struck 10 times in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the nightcap, 16-6.
 
Cornell (9-15 overall) won the series, 2-1, and moved to 4-5 in MWC play.
 
Brevig limited the Pioneers (5-16 overall, 3-9 MWC) 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 Kole Hinrichsen finished the job, allowing just three hits and one run the rest of the game.
 
Freshman Seth Beals went 3-for-5, while Gierula had two hits and drove in a pair. Kale 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.
 
 Gierula led Cornell's eight-hit attack, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. The junior third baseman lifted his team-leading batting average to .380 for the season.
 
Paxon Wright, Rose and Darren Mancke each had a double for the Rams, who stranded nine more runners on base in the game. Beals scored twice.
 
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.  
 
The Rams are home this weekend for a three-game series against first-place Lawrence (13-6 overall, 8-1 MWC). The teams play a single nine-inning game at 5 p.m. Friday, followed by a noon doubleheader Saturday.