MOUNT VERNON – Senior pitcher Garrett Roehl made quick work of Ripon's lineup Sunday, tossing a 1-hour, 55-minute complete game as Cornell's surging baseball team completed a Midwest Conference series sweep with an 8-2 victory at Ash Park Field.
 
The Rams (17-17 overall, 9-8 MWC) jumped into sole possession of fourth place in the league race with four games left in the regular season next week. Cornell has one game remaining against second-place Grinnell, followed by a three-game set against third-place Beloit.
 
Cornell needed only four pitchers this weekend to claim the 3-0 series win over Ripon (5-27 overall, 3-15 MWC). Roehl stamped the staff's stellar performance in recording the first complete game of his collegiate career.
 
Roehl (2-3) yielded six hits and no earned runs over nine efficient innings. He pitched to contact, inducing 15 flyouts and 11 groundouts. Roehl walked two and stranded 10 Red Hawks on base.
 
Roehl helped his cause at the plate with one hit and three RBIs. He was among eight Rams to register a hit.
 
Thomas Hunt continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
 
The Rams received two hits apiece from Luke Hull, Seth Lopez and Elias Diaz. Hull reached base safely for the 22nd game in a row.   
 
Caleb Smith, Hull, Roehl and Landon Moore each recorded an RBI during Cornell's four-run first inning, and the Rams never looked back.
 
Coming up – Cornell plays host to in-state rival Grinnell (19-15 overall, 13-4 MWC) for a single game at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Mount Vernon. Grinnell won the first two games of the series on April 7.