MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - One day after sweeping a doubleheader from Cornell to clinch their first conference championship in seven years, Beloit's baseball team lost the final game of the three-game series against the Rams by a score of 8-7. Both teams finished with 12 hits on the day.

Beloit (25-11, 17-4 MWC) got on the board early with an RBI single by Connor Vogel in the top of the first. They added two more runs in the second on a sac bunt by Tyler Hoover and an RBI single from Jack Alport. Cornell (19-16, 10-11 MWC) homered in the bottom of that inning to get on the board, before tying the game with a pair of runs in the third, and taking the lead on an RBI single in the fourth.

That lead was short-lived, as Vogel doubled in a run in the top of the fifth to tie the score at four, before Zenger recorded an RBI single to give the Bucs the lead once more. Vogel and Zenger would later score on errors to give Beloit a 7-4 lead. That lasted until the bottom of the eighth, when Cornell rallied with four runs on five hits, including a two-run single with two outs that gave the Rams the lead for good. Kiger doubled in the ninth, but Beloit couldn't bring him home before the third out was recorded.

Zenger led Beloit with three hits, while Vogel and Garrison Ferone each finished with two base knocks. Cornell had three players finish with two hits apiece.

The Buccaneers will be in action again on Saturday when they'll host Illinois College in a doubleheader at The Ballpark at Strong Stadium. That twinbill will begin at Noon in Beloit, Wis.