MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - An impressive rally by the Grinnell College baseball team went for naught as Cornell College scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to earn a 6-5 Midwest Conference victory Monday night.

Grinnell (9-14, 2-5 MWC) trailed 4-0 through seven innings before mounting its comeback, cutting the margin in half with two runs in the eighth and then taking the lead with a thrilling three-run output in the top of the ninth.

Both teams had 12 hits, with Mac McCain '25 getting three for Grinnell and Sean Richardson '24 and Nathan McCurdy '25 adding two apiece.

Cornell (10-10, 2-5 MWC) scored one run in the first inning, two in the second and another in the sixth. In the top of the eighth, Evan Borberg '24 and McCurdy singled and Richardson advanced each with a sacrifice bunt. McCain followed with an RBI single to left. After a pitching change, Ethan Crawford '25 pushed across another run with a groundout to second.

Grinnell then put together some ninth-inning heroics. With one out, Michael Flaherty '24 walked before scoring when Ben Kelly '25 ripped a triple to right-center. After a flyout, McCurdy tied the game when he sneaked an RBI double down the right-field line. McCurdy later scored on a wild pitch to put Grinnell on top 5-4.

The Pioneers nearly secured the win, getting two outs before Cornell rallied for two runs and the victory.

Garrett Nasif '24, Jackson Gutta '27 and Ryan Jungers '24 shared pitching duties for Grinnell. Nasif struck out one in two innings before giving way to Gutta, who fanned six in five innings. Jungers, the pitcher of record, went the rest of the way and struck out one.

Borberg caught three runners stealing from the catcher position, a figure that ranks second in program history and just one shy of his own school record.

The teams meet back in Mount Vernon Wednesday for a doubleheader. The first pitch is at 4 p.m.