DE PERE, Wis. – Cornell picked up its first baseball wins of the season Friday, completing a challenging 14-day road swing with a 7-2, 9-5 sweep over Midwest Conference foe St. Norbert at Van Alstine Field.
Cornell sophomore first baseman Drew Logel (SO/Muscatine, Iowa) busted open Game 1 with a seventh-inning grand slam. Peyton Berthel (SR/Davenport, Iowa) and Jeremy Canfield (SR/Downers Grove, Ill.) both had three-hit games in the nightcap for the Rams, who moved to 2-10 overall.
St. Norbert, a perennial contender in the MWC North Division, dropped to 6-3 on the season.
The Rams received quality starts from pitchers Cameron Anfang (SR/Sullivan, Wis.) (1-2) and Kole Hinrichsen (SO/Washington, Iowa) (1-2), both of whom went six innings. Anfang allowed six hits and two runs in the opener, striking out four. Hinrichsen yielded four earned runs en route to his first collegiate victory.
In Game 1, Ian Renger (SR/Bloomingdale, Ill.) pushed the Rams ahead 3-2 in the top of the sixth on a clutch pinch-hit, two-out double that scored Berthel.
Logel then plated four big insurance runs in the seventh with a two-out grand slam. It was Logel's first collegiate varsity hit as a Ram. Jake Schope (SO/Littleton, Colo.) pitched a scoreless seventh to seal the victory.
Caleb Sass (SR/Iowa City, Iowa) and James Kent (SO/Phoenix, Ariz.) scored two runs apiece at the top of the lineup. Zach Stone (SR/Coralville, Iowa) doubled and had an RBI.
The Rams accounted for 11 hits in Game 2, which was tied 5-5 going into the fifth. Sass singled home two runs to give Cornell the lead and he finished with three RBIs. Berthel also had an RBI hit in the fifth.
Canfield went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs, boosting his season batting average to .435. Berthel had three hits and drove in two. Nathan White (SR/Union Grove, Wis.) scored three times.
Evan Parshall (FR/Riverside, Calif.) came on for Hinrichsen and worked a scoreless seventh. The tying run was on deck when the game ended.
Coming up – Cornell opens MWC play against Monmouth with a noon doubleheader April 3 in the Rams' home opener at Ash Park Field.
