Softball News Releases

Rams raise record to 10-6 with sweeps of Buena Vista, Ashford 

MOUNT VERNON– Cornell’s softball team posted two shutouts and a pair of one-run victories during a perfect 4-0 weekend. The Rams climbed to 10-6 overall and 2-0 in the Iowa Conference.

The Rams started the week with an 8-0, 4-3 sweep of Buena Vista March 29 in their IIAC and home openers at Mount Vernon High School. Cornell then took a pair of nonconference wins from Ashford, 13-0 and 2-1, March 30 in Clinton.

The Rams, winners of eight of their last 10 games, are only one win shy of equaling last year’s win total under second-year head coach Shanda Ness.

“We’re making strides,” Ness said. “We’re definitely doing some good things. We just have to do them more often. We have been hitting well every game and have new faces in the lineup that have stepped up and played well.”

Sophomore Ashton Horn (Davenport/West) dominated in the pitchers’ circle, recording all four wins to move her season record to 10-4. She surrendered just three earned runs and notched 12 strikeouts in 23 innings.

The Rams gave Horn plenty of support, hitting .333 for the weekend and committing only four errors. Freshman Nicole Duncan (Wilton/Wilton) paced the offense, going 7-for-12 with five runs scored. Laurel Wilhelm (Blairstown/Benton) went 6-for-13 and Brittany Raymond (Garwin/GMG) knocked in five runs.

Horn twirled a two-hit shutout – her first of the season – in the Rams’ 2-0 five-inning win over Buena Vista. Cornell collected eight hits and scored in each of the first four innings. Wilhelm, Duncan and Sara Blaser (Davenport/North) had two hits apiece.

In Game 2, Cornell unlocked a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the fifth when Duncan singled home Wilhelm with the winning run. Horn scattered seven hits in seven innings to earn her second victory of the day. Raymond drove in two runs and Wilhelm, Duncan and Blaser each had a pair of hits.

Cornell set season highs for hits (13) and runs (13) in its opening-game rout of Ashford, highlighted by a nine-run fourth inning. Lisa Anderson (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart Griffin) and Jessica Mauser (Westminster, Colo./Standley Lake) each drove in three runs. Duncan went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Freshman Simone Wright (Zion, Ill./Waukegan) blasted a solo home run, her first of the season. Horn and Kimberly Traylor (Lee’s Summit, Mo./North) combined to allow four hits in the shutout.

Wright singled home the winning run in the top of the fourth inning of Cornell’s 2-1 nightcap win. She went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored. Horn went the distance on the mound, giving up five hits and one unearned run.        

Coming up – Wednesday, April 2, at Luther, Decorah, 3 p.m.; Thursday, April 3, Knox, Davis Park, Mount Vernon, 3 p.m.; Saturday, April 5, at Dubuque, Dubuque, 2 p.m.; Tuesday, April 8, at Grinnell, Grinnell, 4 p.m.; Thursday, April 10, UW-Platteville, Davis Park, Mount Vernon, 4 p.m.

Tied at the top – Cornell, which posted two league wins all of last season, stands in a three-way tie atop the IIAC standings with Simpson and Wartburg, all with 2-0 marks. Eight of the nine teams in the league have .500 records or better.

Stats and streaks – Duncan (.412 batting average) and Wilhelm (.356) lead the Rams with eight multi-hit games apiece this season. Wilhelm owns a current six-game hitting streak and is 10-for-10 in stolen bases. The Rams have stolen 30 bases in 33 attempts.