Baseball News Releases
Rams fall 17-8 to Luther at home
Coming up - Tuesday, March 31, at Coe (1x9), Cedar Rapids, 3 p.m.; Wednesday, April 1, vs. Grinnell (1x9), Ash Park Field, Mount Vernon, 5 p.m.; Friday, April 3, at Buena Vista (1x9), Storm Lake, 6 p.m.; Saturday, April 4, at Buena Vista (DH), Storm Lake, 1 p.m.
Ram review - Cornell starting pitcher Casey Korn (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but his effort went to waste as Luther broke through for 17 runs in its final five at-bats in a 17-8 Iowa Conference victory over the Rams Friday night at Ash Park Field in Mount Vernon.
Cornell's scheduled doubleheader with Luther Saturday was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Cornell (4-10 overall, 1-3 IIAC) equaled the Norse (9-4, 1-0) with 12 hits apiece, but the Rams surrendered nine unearned runs and had four pitchers combine for 14 walks in helping Luther take control.
Korn (1-4) cruised through the first four innings with the Rams holding a 1-0 lead after Matt Pfister (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) singled home Ryan Clausen (Clinton/Clinton) in the second. Luther rallied for five unearned runs in the top of the fifth, all scoring after a two-out fielding error.
Korn held the Norse hitless until a two-out single in the fifth. The senior right-hander struck out nine and allowed only two earned runs on six hits before being relieved three batters into the sixth.
Cornell came back with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, including an RBI single from Korn that tied the game at 5-5. Luther responded with six runs in the sixth to take an 11-5 lead. The Rams closed the margin to 16-8 with three runs in the eighth behind RBI hits from Pfister and Matthew Shimanovsky (Niles, Ill./Niles West) and a run-scoring grounder from Nick Weinmeister (Janesville/Janesville).
Clausen and Shimanovsky led Cornell's attack with three hits apiece, both with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. Pfister and Michael Tierney (Cedar Rapids/Jefferson) collected two hits apiece.
Rams in the rankings - Pfister's .556 batting average would lead all IIAC hitters, but he is one at-bat short of qualifying for the league's statistic. The sophomore has recorded three consecutive multi-hit games, going 7-for-12 (.583) over that span.
Korn is tied for the IIAC lead in pitching games started (5) and ranks second in strikeouts (34) and third in innings pitched (33.1). Freshman Jason Douglas (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) is second in sac bunts with three.
