BELOIT, Wis. – Cornell's baseball team remained in postseason contention after dropping both ends of Saturday's doubleheader to third-place Beloit – 8-1 and 6-3 – at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium.
The Rams (17-20 overall, 9-11 MWC) slipped into fifth place in the Midwest Conference race, one game behind fourth-place Monmouth (10-10 MWC) with one game to go for the final spot in the MWC Tournament.
Cornell faces a must-win situation in Sunday's 12 p.m. regular-season finale against Beloit (22-16 overall, 14-6 MWC) at Ash Park Field. The Rams need a win AND a Monmouth loss at Lawrence to qualify for the four-team tournament.
The Rams hold tiebreakers over both Monmouth and Lawrence (9-11 MWC).
Cornell missed several scoring opportunities in Game 2 Saturday, stranding 11 runners on base. The Rams left the bases loaded in both the seventh and ninth innings. They had the bases packed with one out in the top of the ninth, but left them full.
Caleb Smith and
Jimmy Moltini tallied two hits apiece for the Rams, who received a solo homer from
Jackson Hill in the fifth that cut the deficit to 3-2.
Garrett Roehl went 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
Elias Diaz scored twice.
Starting pitcher
Lucas Brutsche (5-3) gave up four earned runs and struck out six in 5.2 innings.
The Rams couldn't get much going offensively in Game 1. Cornell managed just two hits, singles by
Jamison Martine and
Seth Lopez.
Hill scored Cornell's lone run in the top of the sixth. The Buccaneers responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning and built the lead to 7-1.
Cornell starter
Nate Pacetti (4-4) allowed six earned runs and struck out six over 5.1 innings.
