RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon baseball program used a big rally in the late stages of the opening game on Saturday to earn a split with Cornell at Francis Field.
 
In a wild opening game that saw each team hold leads of three-plus runs, Ripon found itself down 7-3 after a six-run top of the seventh for Cornell. However, the Red Hawks scored twice in the seventh, twice in the eighth and once in the ninth on a walkoff single by Nick Tenny to claim the series-opening, 8-7 win.
 
In the second game of the twinbill, Cornell responded with a 10-8 win.
 
In game one, Ripon (7-14, 4-6 MWC) scored in each of the first two innings to grab an early 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the first with a runner on third and one out, Alex Pankratz manufactured a run with an RBI groundout. In the bottom of the second, after runners on first and second moved over on a wild pitch, Gabriel Zielinski brought home two on an RBI single as Ripon added to its lead.
 
Cornell (13-12, 4-7 MWC) responded in the top of the fifth with a sacrifice fly, but Ripon starter Blaine Wahlen stranded a runner on third to end the inning.
 
After the Rams led off the seventh with a single, a two-run homer to right center tied the game. Cornell tripled the next at-bat and a fielder's choice followed to give the Rams their first lead of the day, 4-3. A two-out, RBI single pushed Cornell's lead to two and another two-run homer punctuated the inning for the Rams, who scored six times in the inning.
 
Ripon punched back in the bottom of the seventh, cutting its deficit in half. A two-out, two-run single by Jack Anderson forced a Cornell pitching change with the Rams leading 7-5.
 
The momentum continued in the bottom of the eighth – Brock Peterson started the rally with a single, advanced to second on a Rams' error and moved to third on a single by Michael Sheehy. Kaleb Burns scored Peterson with two outs and two consecutive errors by Cornell allowed the tying run to score. The inning ended there, but Ripon entered the ninth tied at seven after being down four runs in the seventh.
 
After a scoreless top of the ninth, Hickman led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and Zielinski moved over the pinch runner to second with a sacrifice bunt. After Peterson was walked, Mason Schoenke advanced to third on a passed ball and Sheehy reached on a fielder's choice. With the bases loaded and one out, the scene was set for Tenny to be the hero as Ripon won game one.
 
Hickman was one of the standouts offensively for Ripon, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and a walk. Burns (2-for-4, RBI), Anderson (2-for-5, 2 RBI, run) and Zielinski (2-for-4, 2 RBI also had multi-hit outings.
 
Wahlen got the start on the mound, going 6+ innings while scattering eight hits and two earned runs. He struck out six batters, the fifth time this season he punched out at least six hitters.
 
Dawson Selvoski picked up the win for Ripon on the mound, tossing 2.1 innings while only giving up one hit. He didn't give up a run and punched out three.
 
Cornell got on the board first in the second game of the day as a two-out, RBI single in the top of the first allowed the Rams to draw first blood. However, Ripon countered in the bottom half. After Tenny singled and advanced to second on a bunt, Nick Terrell tied the game with an RBI single and later scored on a stolen base and throwing error to put Ripon in front.
 
The Rams re-took the lead in the top of the third on a two-run homer and added to it with a one-out, RBI double, holding a 4-2 lead after three innings. Two more runs came home in the top of the fourth on another two-run shot as the Rams pushed their lead to 6-2.
 
The Red Hawks answered in the bottom of the fourth as Zielinski homered off of the Willmore Center for his first career home run, though Ripon headed into the seventh down 6-3.
 
Cornell loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the seventh and turned baserunners into insurance runs. Four runners crossed home in the inning as the Rams built up a seven-run advantage at the seventh inning stretch.
 
Ripon continued to battle, putting runners at the corners with nobody out in the bottom of the eighth. Peterson reached on an error to score Terrell, but that's all Ripon would get as the Rams headed into the ninth with a 10-4 lead.
 
An RBI triple for Burns in the bottom of the ninth with nobody out gave Ripon life, and a three-run moonshot by Terrell brought Ripon within two at 10-8. Though the tying run was at the plate with one out in the ninth, a flyout and a groundout ended the game in favor of the Rams.
 
Offensively, Terrell was the only Red Hawk with multiple hits, going 2-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored.
 
On the mound, Caleb Mammoser got the start and took the loss, yielding six hits and four earned runs over the course of 2.1 innings. Brandon Burge, Orion Rieden, David Neal Hickman, Brandon Peace and Evan McAfee combined to throw 6.2 innings in relief; the group only gave up five hits total in that timeframe.
 
NEXT UP: Ripon hosts Cornell on Sunday, April 14 at noon for the final game of the series. Sunday's game will also serve as Senior Day for the Red Hawks.
 
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