RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon baseball program won its second consecutive Midwest Conference series on Sunday with an important 12-7 victory over Cornell at Francis Field.
With the win, Ripon (8-11, 4-2 MWC) pulls into sole possession of first place in the MWC standings.
As has been the case all season long, the Red Hawks scored early and often on Sunday. After Cornell (9-14, 2-4 MWC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead through one inning, the Red Hawks responded with a four-spot in the second.
Alex Pankratz led off the inning with a home run before the next two batters reached base.
Gabriel Zielinski drove home
Brock Peterson on a sacrifice fly, and
Chase Hanselman connected on a two-run single to plate two more.
From there, Ripon starter
Michael Sheehy had a pair of three-up, three-down innings on the mound.
Evan Olson extended the Red Hawk lead to 6-1 following a two-out, two-run double in the fourth.
The Rams chipped away slowly, plating single runs in the fifth and sixth. However, a two-run homer by Hanselman padded the Ripon lead as the Red Hawks took an 8-3 edge to the seventh.
Cornell responded with a two-run double in the seventh, though Sheehy stranded a Ram at second to end the inning. Zielinski added a run for Ripon in the bottom half, recording a second sacrifice fly to make the score 9-5.
After
Griffin Klein sent the Rams down in order in the top of the eighth, Ripon scored three times in the bottom half. Pankratz doubled home Hanselman, and Anderson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Then, Zielinski scored another on a bases loaded walk to push the margin to 12-5.
A fielder's choice and error scored two for Cornell in the top of the ninth, but
Orion Rieden – picking up his first save of the season – stranded two runners on base to end the game.
Hanselman had a perfect day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with 4 RBI, 3 runs scored, a home run and a walk. Peterson also had a three-hit game as the sophomore was 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Olson had a three-hit game as well (3x4, 2 RBI, run, walk).
Owen Gerhardt (2x5, 2 runs), Pankratz (2x5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs) and Anderson (2x3, RBI, run, walk) also had multi-hit games as the Red Hawks totaled 16 hits for the second time in three outings.
Sheehy was terrific on the mound, going seven full innings to pick up his second consecutive wi. He allowed eight hits and five earned runs while striking out four. Klein and Rieden allowed just two hits over two innings of relief.
NEXT UP: Ripon visits MSOE on Tuesday, April 8 for a midweek matchup beginning at 2 p.m.
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