RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon College baseball team will enter the final day of the Midwest Conference regular season still alive for a spot in next week's MWC Tournament. They split a doubleheader against Lawrence Saturday afternoon, winning the first 5-3 in comeback fashion, before another comeback bid was thwarted in game two, which Lawrence won 5-4. That means Ripon can clinch a spot in the conference tournament by winning both games against Lawrence on Sunday.

Saturday's first game was tightly contested throughout, with the Red Hawks (20-14, 8-6 MWC) striking first with a run in the bottom of the sixth on a sac fly off the bat of Nick Taranto that scored Joey Garza. Lawrence (5-21, 2-12 MWC) then took their first lead of the game with a three-run eighth, but Ripon had an answer for that in the bottom of the inning. The Red Hawks cut the lead to one on a sac fly from Noah Herried, before loading the bases with two outs for freshman Nick Terrell, who promptly cleared the bases with his second triple of the season to give Ripon the lead for good.

The Red Hawks finished with seven hits, with two apiece coming from Barnes, Garza, and Terrell. Brody Marks (5-0) earned the win in relief to retain a perfect record on the season. He pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out one batter.

The day's second game saw Ripon once again jump out the the first lead with a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Taranto started the scoring with an RBI double, moving him into a tie for 10th in program history with his 30th career double. Herried also registered an RBI double in that inning for the 2-0 lead.

Lawrence then took the lead with four runs on three hits in the top of the sixth. Ripon pushed across another run in the eighth on an inside-the-park home run by Jacob Pankratz, but the Red Hawks would leave runners stranded at second and third. They would rally again in the ninth, cutting the lead to 5-4 on an RBI groundout by Keegan Johnston. They would then load the bases with two outs, but couldn't muster any more runs.

Ripon finished the game with 13 hits, but also stranded 14 runners. Barnes, Herried, Tyler Nelson, and Riley Erickson all finished with two hits to lead the way.

These two teams will meet again on Sunday for a Noon doubleheader in Appleton, Wis. with Ripon's playoff hopes on the line. Those games can be heard live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lawrence/#live.