CHICAGO, Ill. – Facing a must-win situation, Cornell handed the baseball to right-handed starter Vince Tinajero. And did he ever deliver.
 
Tinajero tossed a complete-game five-hitter and did not allow an earned run in Cornell's pivotal 4-2 Game 2 victory over second-place Chicago Saturday afternoon at Kyle Anderson Field. The Rams dropped the opener, 10-2.
 
With the split, Cornell (22-16 overall, 12-11 MWC) still clings to fourth place in the Midwest Conference race with one game remaining against the Maroons (17-21 overall, 16-7 MWC) at noon Sunday in Chicago, Ill.
 
Ripon (11-11 MWC) is lurking closely behind the Rams for the fourth and final spot into next week's MWC Tournament. The Red Hawks have single games remaining against Knox and Grinnell, and hold the tiebreaker over the Rams.
 
The team's starting catcher for the first half of the season, Tinajero (5-0) has been simply dominant on the pitchers' mound over the past three weeks. The first-year transfer has not surrendered an earned run in 25.2 innings pitched this spring.
 
Tinajero limited the Maroons to five singles over nine innings, striking out four and walking one. He finished off the outing with a game-ending flyout to right field with the tying run at the plate.
 
Freshman Cade Parks doubled home two key insurance runs in the top of the ninth that loomed large in the end. He and Sean Alvarez both had two hits to lead the Rams.
 
Alvarez scored his 50th run to break Cornell's single-season record of 49, set by Caleb Wichman in 2019. He also collected his 60th hit of the season, becoming the eighth Ram to reach that mark.
     
In Game 1, Kale Rose went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs for his 19th multi-hit game of the season. The homer was his team-leading eighth of the year.
 
Colin Whelan also had two hits, including a double.
 
The Maroons struck for four runs in the first inning and broke it open during a five-run seventh frame. Chicago outhit the Rams, 8-7.