MOUNT VERNON – Senior
Hannah Rhoades tossed a five-inning perfect game in Saturday's nightcap, putting a fitting touch to a lopsided 8-0, 8-0 Midwest Conference sweep over Knox on Senior Day at Van Metre Family Softball Field.
The Rams outhit Knox, 23-1, over the 11 total innings played Saturday and wrapped up the MWC campaign on a five-game winning streak.
Cornell (16-19 overall) tied for fifth place with Beloit in the final MWC standing at 8-8, one game shy of a postseason berth. Grinnell (9-7 MWC) secured the fourth and final spot in the MWC Tournament with a 10-6 Game 2 victory at Ripon.
Rhoades (8-5) needed only 54 minutes to achieve perfection in the pitching circle in Game 2. The right-hander induced five groundouts, four flyouts and struck out six over five flawless innings.
Leading 3-0, the Rams blasted three home runs in the bottom of the fifth to finish off the Prairie Fire (2-35 overall, 1-15 MWC) via the mercy rule.
Senior
Addie Bowman connected on an inside-the-park solo home run to right to lead off the inning. The next batter,
Elise Oleson, cranked a solo homer to center for her eighth round tripper of the season.
Two outs and a
Peyton Souhrada triple later, senior
Lilly Dierkes deposited a two-run homer over the left-center field fence to end the game. It was Dierkes' first home run in her 53rd game with the Rams.
Oleson and
Brooke Furman both went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles to lead Cornell's 13-hit attack. Bowman had two hits and scored twice.
In Game 1, sophomore
Lexi Ellermeier (5-8) limited the Prairie Fire to one hit and two base runners over five innings. She struck out four and walked one. Senior
Holly Kremer came on in the sixth and retired the Prairie Fire in order.
Bowman and Souhrada scored unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to end the contest.
Cornell's No. 8 and 9 hitters –
Brianna Risley and Furman – both finished 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs.
Corrin Kennedy added two hits and scored twice.
Coming up – Cornell concludes the season with a single varsity game at 1 p.m. Sunday against 21st-ranked Simpson (30-6) in Mount Vernon. One junior varsity game will follow at approximately 3 p.m.
