Baseball News Releases
Butler pitches Rams to 6-3 win in series finale against Simpson
Coming up - Friday, March 27, vs. Luther (1x9), Ash Park Field, Mount Vernon, 6 p.m.; Saturday, March 28, vs. Luther (DH), Ash Park Field, Mount Vernon, 1 p.m.; Tuesday, March 31, at Coe (1x9), Cedar Rapids, 3 p.m.
Ram review - Cornell took the final game of a three-game Iowa Conference weekend series with Simpson at McBride Field in Indianola.
The Rams (4-9 overall, 1-2 IIAC) fell 13-3 in a shortened seven-inning game Friday. Cornell dropped a tough 6-5 decision in eight innings in Saturday's opener, but bounced back with a 6-3 victory in the nightcap.
In Saturday's first game, Matthew Shimanovsky (Niles, Ill./Niles West) doubled home Matt Pfister (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) in the top of the sixth inning to give the Rams a 5-3 lead. Simpson (9-6, 2-1) was down to its final out in the bottom of the seventh when Jesse Reis connected for a two-run homer to force extra innings. The Storm then won it with a one-out double in the bottom of the eighth.
"We were one pitch away from sweeping them on Saturday," Cornell head coach Frank Fishler. "I thought we outplayed them in both of those games."
Pfister and Shimanovsky each went 3-for-4 to lead Cornell's 11-hit attack. Shimanovsky had two doubles and drove in a pair of runs. Freshman Jason Douglas (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) belted a two-run homer in the fourth that put the Rams ahead 4-3. Casey Korn (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest) went the distance on the mound, suffering his second extra-inning loss in as many starts. He struck out five and walked three.
Cornell sophomore Adam Butler (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) pitched six solid innings to earn the win in Game 2. He allowed five hits and struck out four. Chris Handke (Bellevue/Bellevue) fanned two batters in a scoreless seventh to pick up the save. The Rams built an early 4-0 lead with four runs in the second. Junior Michael Tierney (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) hit a two-run homer in the fourth that put the Rams ahead, 6-2. Pfister and Shimanovsky had two hits apiece.
Cornell fell behind 7-1 after two innings in Friday's game and never recovered. Andrew Patzke (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) and Douglas paced the Rams with two hits apiece. David Bartine (Des Moines/Roosevelt) doubled and drove in two runs. Shimanovsky also had an RBI. The Rams committed four errors in the game, which led to six unearned runs.
Who's hot? - Pfister continues to lead the Rams in hitting, carrying a .591 batting average into this weekend's three-game series with Luther. The sophomore outfielder had five hits in seven at-bats against Simpson. Pfister has four multi-hit games this season.
Shimanovsky went 6-for-9 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs against the Storm. He raised his season batting average to .311 with a team-high 10 RBIs.
