MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's baseball team picked up a crucial win in Sunday's Midwest Conference series finale with Chicago, outslugging the Maroons 14-10 in Game 2 at Ash Park Field.
 
Chicago claimed the opening game, 4-2, spoiling a spectacular relief outing from Cornell senior left-hander Daulton Montagna who retired 21 consecutive batters to end the game.   
 
The Maroons (16-14 overall) took two of three games from the Rams over the weekend and inched into third place in the MWC race at 10-8. Cornell (18-13 overall, 9-8 MWC) is among three teams bunched closely behind with eight league losses and two weeks left in the regular season.
 
Darren Mancke put a cap on Cornell's Game 2 outburst with a three-run inside-the-park home run. The junior deposited a deep drive off the fence in straight-away center field and motored all the way around to put the Rams ahead 14-10 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
 
Mancke finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, after having an impressive 26-game on-base streak snapped in the opener.
 
The Rams unloaded for 17 total hits in the nightcap and also took advantage of eight Chicago errors. Seth Beals went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs for his team-high ninth multi-RBI game of the season. Josiah Shaw and Colin Konicek also tallied three hits apiece and both scored three times.
 
Aiden Monce and Lincoln Greasley added two RBIs apiece for the Rams, who pulled ahead to stay at 11-10 on a sacrifice fly by Vince Zipperer in the seventh.
 
Carson King (2-0) notched the pitching win, allowing two unearned runs over two innings in relief. Jake Schope retired the side in order over the final two innings to earn the save.
 
In Game 1, the Maroons grabbed an early 4-0 lead and then were totally blanked by Montagna, who came on with nobody out in the top of the third. The first three Maroons reached base against Montagna, but none after that.
 
Montagna recorded 21 consecutive outs, including a season-best 11 strikeouts.
 
The Rams were limited to five hits in the contest, led by a 2-for-4 effort from Zipperer.
 
Cornell pulled within 4-2 on an RBI hit from Zach Garton in the bottom of the ninth when the rally stalled.       
 
Coming up – The Rams travel to play Monmouth (13-19 overall, 8-12 MWC) for a single game at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Monmouth, Ill. The teams split a doubleheader April 19 in Mount Vernon.