BELOIT, Wis. - Beloit's baseball team won both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Cornell to clinch the program's first Midwest Conference championship since 2016. The Buccaneers won game one 15-2 in seven innings, before holding off the Rams 10-8 in game two to complete the sweep. Those two wins also punched the Bucs' ticket to the 2023 MWC Tournament, which will now go through Beloit, Wisconsin, as it will be held at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium on May 12-13.

The day's first game saw Beloit (25-10, 17-3 MWC) score early and often. Matt O'Leary set the tone for the game, homering to right field to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Miles Souza and Deven Irwin also each drove in a run that inning, with Brett Kiger scoring on a wild pitch. The Buccaneers scored four more runs the following inning, as Evan Zenger ripped a two-run homer, while O'Leary scored on an error and Kiger drove in a run with a single.

Beloit added another run in the fourth when Irwin drew a bases loaded walk, before putting the game away with a six-run fifth. In that frame, O'Leary crushed his second home run of the game, which was followed by RBI singles from Zenger and Miles Souza, and a two-run single from Jack Alport. Zenger also scored another run on a balk. 

The Buccaneers' 16-hit effort included three hits apiece from O'Leary, Zenger, Souza, and Connor Vogel. Kiger added two hits in the game. Eamon Burke (4-2) was brilliant on the mound, allowing just one run on two hits, while striking out four in six innings of work.

The day's second game again saw Beloit get out to an early lead, as Garrison Ferone singled to score O'Leary, who led the inning off with a double. Cornell then took their first lead of the game with two runs in the top of the second, but that lead was short-lived, thanks in large part to the long-ball. Ferone ripped a three-run homer over the right field fence to give the Bucs the lead, while Zenger added a two-run Bucco Bomb to increase that lead to 6-2. Kiger also got into the action, as Beloit's Home Run King left the park with a solo homer in the fourth.

Cornell (18-16, 9-11 MWC) then made things interesting with three runs in the top of the sixth, but Beloit answered with three runs of their own in the seventh, which saw O'Leary drive in a run with a sac fly, which was followed by an inside-the-park home run off the bat of Ferone, which also allowed Alport to cross the plate. The Rams added three more runs in the top of the eighth, but Alport came on to pitch a perfect inning of relief in the ninth to earn his first collegiate save and clinch the MWC regular season title for the Bucs.

Beloit finished the second game with 14 hits, with exactly half of those going for extra bases. Ferone led the way with a 4-for-5 performance at the plate, which saw him drive in six runs and score two more. Zenger and Alport each added three hits. Kaiya Nishino (5-3) earned the win, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out three in 5.1 innings of work.

The Buccaneers will complete their season series against Cornell on Sunday when they'll travel to Mount Vernon, Iowa for a single game at Noon. The Buccaneers are now just four wins shy of breaking the school record for single season wins (28), while needing three more conference victories to break the school record of 19