Box Score Box Score
 
HARRISONBURG, Va. – Junior Ryan Karl hit a game-tying grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning, then the baseball team plated six more runs in the 10th inning to secure a 14-8 victory Sunday over James Madison in the rubber game of a three-game series at Veterans Memorial Park.
 
Cornell (7-3) scored 11 unanswered runs and wrapped up a torrid offensive weekend featuring 46 runs and 57 hits. The Big Red led 3-1 at the seventh-inning stretch behind another terrific start from sophomore Michael Byrne, but the game took a wild turn once the teams got into each other's bullpens. James Madison (8-11) sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a commanding 8-3 lead.
 
The Big Red started to chip away at the deficit with an unearned run in the eighth. Kevin Tatum hit a two-out double to right, then pinch runner Frankie Padulo came around to score when a fly ball to left was dropped.
 
Down to its last out in the top of the ninth and JD Whetsel on first after a leadoff single, the Big Red stayed alive with Chris Cruz getting hit by a pitch and Spencer Scorza's infield hit to load the bases. That brought Karl to the plate, and he responded by driving a grand slam to right-center to tie the game, 8-8. Karl finished the weekend 8-for-15 with four home runs and 11 RBIs.
 
The Big Red then blew the game open in the 10th, batting around and scoring six runs. Eliot Lowell drove in the go-ahead run with a walk, then Tommy Wagner followed with a two-run single through the right side. Later in the frame, Karl drove in his fifth run with another bases-loaded walk, then Padulo capped the scoring with a two-run single through the left side.
 
Sophomore Matt Horton earned victory with three innings of relief, including two escape acts. He stranded two runners in scoring position in the eighth, then left the bases loaded in the ninth. With the potential winning run on third, Horton got a swinging strikeout for the second out, then induced a flyout to center to send the game to an extra inning. He then worked a 1-2-3 10th inning to wrap it up.
 
Sophomore starter Michael Byrne earned a no-decision with six innings of work, scattering nine hits while surrendering just an unearned run in the third to start the scoring.
 
The Big Red – which has won all three of its series to date – is back in action next weekend with a four-game series at Sacred Heart, featuring a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.