MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's baseball team secured a pivotal series win over Grinnell with an improbable 13-12 Game 1 comeback decided in the 10th inning Wednesday night at Ash Park.
The Rams mounted a rally of historic proportions, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie it.
Seth Beals finished the heroics with a game-winning single that plated
Vince Zipperer with two outs in the 10th.
It marked Cornell's second consecutive walk-off win over the Pioneers, who bounced back to take Wednesday's second game, 13-5. The Rams won Monday's series opener in their final at-bat, 6-5.
The Rams (11-11 overall) and Pioneers (9-15 overall) both moved to 3-6 in Midwest Conference play.
Grinnell seemingly had Wednesday's Game 1 in the bag, leading 12-5 going into the bottom of the ninth. A
Grant Cwick RBI single and Zipperer sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 12-7, and with the Rams down to their final out, the game was far from over.
With help from three Grinnell errors, the Rams kept the rally going.
Kale Rose doubled home a run and scored on a
Cade Parks single that brought Cornell within 12-11. Parks came around with the tying run on a wild pitch that forced extra innings.
In Cornell's bottom of the 10th, Zipperer drew a two-out walk and moved to second on a passed ball. That set up the dramatics for leadoff man Beals, who singled to left field for the game-winner.
Rose went 4-for-5 with a homer, double and three RBIs. Parks also had four hits and drove in a pair.
Carson King (1-0), the Rams' fifth pitcher of the game, worked 1.2 scoreless innings to notch the victory. Only three of Grinnell's 12 runs scored were earned.
In Game 2, the Pioneers connected for a grand slam in the first inning. After Cornell tied it at 4-4, Grinnell piled on nine more runs over the final four innings.
Sean Alvarez was 3-for-5 with a triple and two doubles. Zipperer also had two hits, including a double.
Coming up – The Rams travel to play Marian (11-9) for a single nonconference game at 3 p.m. Friday in Fond du Lac, Wis.
