JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Cornell pitchers Nate Pacetti and Thomas Hunt held down the Midwest Conference's top hitting team in Saturday's 4-3 Game 1 baseball victory at Joe Brooks Field.
 
The Rams led through 4 ½ innings in Game 2 before dropping an 8-4 decision.
 
Cornell (12-14 overall, 4-6 MWC) and Illinois College (15-13 overall, 6-4 MWC) will battle it out at noon Sunday in the rubber game of the series.
 
Pacetti (2-3) limited the Blueboys to two runs and five hits through five innings, leaving with a 3-2 lead. Hunt closed it out with four effective innings of relief, scattering just three hits and yielding one run while striking out four. Hunt notched his third save of the spring.
 
The Rams struck three times in the third, capped by Caleb Smith's RBI double that made the score 3-1. Smith drove in an important insurance run in the seventh on a groundout that plated Lucas Head.
 
The Blueboys cut the margin to 4-3 with a run in the ninth and threatened for more with a runner at second base and one out. Hunt retired the next two batters to preserve the win.
 
The Rams prevailed despite being outhit, 8-4. Cornell played errorless ball in the field.
 
In Game 2, Luke Hull went 3-for-4 and extended his on-base streak to 14 games. Garrett Roehl accounted for two hits, including a two-run double.
 
Seth Lopez's sacrifice fly tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the third. The Rams went ahead 4-3 in the fifth on a hit by Hull followed by an Illinois College error.
 
The Blueboys scored three times with two outs in the sixth and led the rest of the way.
 
Cornell starter Lucas Brutsche (4-2) allowed six earned runs over seven innings, striking out five. The Rams had won Brutsche's previous five starts on the mound.