MOUNT VERNON – A light shower near the end of Tuesday's 9-1 baseball victory over Simpson certainly did nothing to dampen Cornell's impressive charge into the final weekend of the regular season.
 
The Rams closed out the home portion of their schedule with an eighth consecutive win, boosting their season record to 21-15. The team has scored 10.0 runs per contest during the hot streak.  
 
Cornell now has a pivotal three-game Midwest Conference series ahead at second-place Chicago (15-6 MWC). The Rams stand fourth in the league race at 11-10, looking to solidify an MWC Tournament berth.
 
The Rams and Maroons play a noon doubleheader Saturday, followed by a single game Sunday at noon.
 
Four Cornell pitchers limited the Storm (15-22) to six hits in Tuesday's nonconference game that the Rams led 5-0 through two innings. Vince Zipperer allowed one run over 3.1 innings in his first pitching start of the season.
 
Relievers Jackson Lisle, Weslee Frame and Grant Morris held Simpson scoreless the rest of the way. Lisle picked up his first win and Morris logged three effective innings for the save.       
 
Senior Darren Mancke went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in his final home game. Sean Alvarez also collected three hits and drove in one run.
 
Kale Rose notched his team-high 18th multi-hit game of the season. Ryan Weaver had two hits and two runs from the leadoff spot.