Baseball News Releases
Rams carry five-game win streak into final week of regular season
MOUNT VERNON - The Cornell College baseball team, stuck in last place in the Iowa Conference race a week ago, more than doubled its season win total and charged back into postseason contention with five consecutive league wins on the road.
The Rams outslugged Central, 11-9 and 10-9, in an IIAC sweep April 21 in Pella. Cornell then took all three games in a weekend series with Dubuque, posting a 10-3 comeback victory Friday and winning by identical 9-6 scores in a doubleheader Saturday. The Rams' scheduled nonconference twin bill with Robert Morris-Springfield Sunday was cancelled due to wet grounds.
Cornell climbed to 9-20 overall and 6-11 in the IIAC heading into the final week of league play. The Rams host Central in a single nine-inning game Wednesday and then conclude the regular season with a three-game series with league-leading Loras Friday and Saturday in Mount Vernon.
"Our guys have played with a lot more confidence over this five-game stretch," Cornell head coach Frank Fishler said. "We've had some timely hitting and we're making the plays in the field. Some of the breaks are going our way now."
The late-season surge has positioned the Rams for a possible berth in the six-team IIAC Tournament May 7-9 in Cedar Rapids. Cornell, currently eighth in the league race, stands only one game back in the loss column to sixth-place Simpson (9-12 IIAC) and is only percentage points behind seventh-place Central (7-11 IIAC).
Simpson has three games remaining at nationally-ranked Buena Vista. Central finishes the regular season with a three-game set at defending IIAC champion Wartburg. The Rams hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Central. Cornell went 1-2 against Simpson.
"We are going to take it one game at a time," Fishler said. "We wanted to put ourselves in a position where these final games matter. They all count this week."
The Rams snapped an 11-game losing skid last week, aided by an explosive stretch at the plate. Cornell averaged 9.9 runs and batted .401 with 24 extra-base hits - including seven home runs - in the five victories.
Junior Ryan Fincham (Englewood, Colo./Englewood) led the Rams' hit parade, batting .611 (11-for-18) with eight RBIs and five runs scored over the stretch. Sophomore Andrew Patzke (Madison, Wis./Edgewood) hit .500 (10-for-20) and posted team highs of 11 RBIs and eight runs. Matt Pfister (Northfield, Ill./New Trier) went 9-for-18 with a pair of doubles. Caleb Wilson (Benton, Ill./Benton) connected for three extra-base hits, including two home runs, in 10 at-bats.
Casey Korn (High Ridge, Mo./Northwest) was instrumental in the sweep of Central. The senior utility man pitched two scoreless innings to earn the save in the 11-9 Game 1 victory. Korn came back to record the pitching win in Game 2 and also delivered the game-winning hit in the 10-9 victory.
In Game 2 against the Dutch, the Rams rallied from a 9-8 deficit in the top of the seventh inning. Cornell loaded the bases with one out for Korn, who singled home David Bartine (Des Moines/Roosevelt) and Fincham with the tying and winning runs. Korn then closed out the game on the mound, striking out the final Dutch batter with a runner on second base.
Fincham went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs and a double in the nightcap. Korn and Andy Krekel (Des Moines/Roosevelt) each had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Pfister also had two hits and scored twice.
Cornell cranked five home runs in the opener. Wilson, Patzke, Fincham, Ryan Clausen (Clinton/Clinton) and Matthew Shimanovsky (Niles, Ill./Niles West) all went deep for the Rams. Patzke and Shimanovsky each belted two-run shots in Cornell's four-run fourth inning. Korn and Patzke both went 3-for-4 with two runs. Clausen drove in three runs while Wilson, Patzke and Shimanovsky had two RBIs apiece.
Patzke fueled Cornell's 17-hit attack in Friday's game against Dubuque, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs. The Rams overcame a 3-2 deficit with four runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth. Bartine picked up his first pitching win of the season, allowing only three hits in four scoreless innings in relief. The Rams received three hits apiece from Pfister, Korn and Jesse Searls (Coralville/Iowa City West). Searls had a pair of doubles.
In Saturday's 9-6 Game 1 win over Dubuque, the Rams broke open a 5-5 tie with a four-run seventh inning. Korn singled in the go-ahead run, followed by a two-run double from Patzke and a sacrifice fly from Shimanovsky. Shimanovsky finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Pfister added a pair of hits. Korn went the distance on the mound, striking out six and not allowing a walk.
Searls pitched four innings of two-hit ball in Cornell's 9-6 win in Saturday's finale, which was called in the bottom of the sixth due to inclement weather. Wilson went 3-for-4, highlighted with a two-run homer in the Rams' five-run first inning. He also doubled and scored twice. Patzke had a pair of hits and drove in three runs. Fincham added two RBIs.
Coming up - Wednesday, April 29, vs. Central (1x9), Ash Park Field, Mount Vernon, 6 p.m.; Friday, May 1, vs. Loras (1x9), Ash Park Field, Mount Vernon, 6 p.m.; Saturday, May 2, vs. Loras (DH), Ash Park Field, Mount Vernon, 1 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, May 7-9, Iowa Conference Tournament, Cedar Rapids, TBA.
Chase for .400 - Patzke (.417, 35-for-84) and Pfister (.403, 25-for-62) are on track to become the first Cornell teammates to hit .400 in the same season, with a minimum of 45 at-bats, in more than two decades. Jim White (.452) and Craig Furnish (.429) were the last teammates to accomplish the feat in 1987.
Ian Harden is the last Ram to hit .400 in a season, batting .406 (63-for-155) in 2003. Cornell has had nine players post a .400 season batting average, with a minimum of 45 at-bats, since 1982.
Win streak - Cornell's current five-game winning streak is the program's longest since 2006, when the Rams won six straight games from March 5-25.
Rams in the rankings - Patzke ranks fifth in the IIAC in slugging percentage (.607), seventh in batting average (.417) and eighth in on-base percentage (.479). Pfister is tied with Patzke for eighth in on-base percentage (.479) and stands ninth in batting average (.403). Korn ranks third among IIAC pitchers in strikeouts (52) and fifth in innings pitched (58.1).
Hit streak ends - Bartine stretched his team-high hitting streak to 11 games before going 0-for-3 in Saturday's opener with Dubuque. Pfister and Fincham are tied for the team's longest current hit streak at five games.
