MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's potent batting lineup was held in check against No. 21 nationally-ranked Central in 8-0 and 11-0 losses Thursday afternoon at Van Metre Family Softball Field.
 
The Rams (10-13), who entered the day with a .345 team batting average, mustered only six hits in the doubleheader against Central ace Emma Beck, who logged all but one inning as the winning pitcher in both games.
 
Central, the preseason favorite to win the American Rivers Conference, improved to 15-3 on the season.
 
The Dutch capitalized on a couple costly Cornell miscues in both games, which resulted in 11 total unearned runs for the visiting team.
 
Senior outfielder Addie Bowman accounted for two of Cornell's four hits in the opener. Brooke Furman and Elise Oleson added one single apiece. Oleson's hit extended her consecutive on-base streak to 14 games.
 
Central broke open a 3-0 score with four unearned runs in the top of the fourth, aided by two Cornell errors. Beck faced just two batters over the minimum over seven innings.
 
Cornell starter Hannah Edwards (1-3) allowed nine hits and struck out two in her complete-game outing.
 
In Game 2, Central plated seven unearned runs in the fifth inning to end the contest early. Cornell's Daelynn Rhoades (0-3) yielded six hits and four earned runs in 4.2 innings.
 
Furman and Kloi Barney both had a single for Cornell's lone two hits of the game.
 
Coming up – The Rams (2-2 MWC) travel to play Lawrence (7-15 overall, 2-2 MWC) for a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday in Appleton, Wis.