Cornell opens new campaign with Feb. 25 date in Florida

The Cornell College baseball team is anxious to get outdoors, especially after a week's worth of early-morning practices inside the Small Multi-Sport Center.

So it was a welcome site last Thursday when warm temperatures finally uncovered the snow and ice on Cornell's Ash Park Field. The elements shouldn't be a factor in Fort Pierce, Fla., where head coach Adam Hadenfeldt's Rams open the season Friday, Feb. 25 with a scheduled nine-inning game at 2 p.m. with Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Hadenfeldt knows pitching and defense will be keys this spring as the team looks to improve on last year's 4-30 overall mark. The Rams went 2-22 in Iowa Conference play.

“If we pitch and play defense, we can win ball games,” said the Rams' second-year coach, whose team finished 2-1 on last year's season-opening trip to Florida. “Our pitchers need to throw strikes and we need to make plays behind them. We have an experienced pitching staff. It's all about them throwing strikes.”

The Rams return four pitchers who logged at least 26 innings last season. Junior right-hander Charlie Muir (Northbrook, Ill./New Trier) led the team with 45 strikeouts in 52.2 innings pitched. He started 11 games and made 14 total appearances.

Senior Jesse Searls (Coralville/Iowa City West) and junior Justin Brown (Wilton/Wilton) each appeared in 15 games on the mound, sharing the team lead. Senior Adam Butler (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West), the team's lone three-year letterwinner, brings back 22 career starts and 99 innings pitched. The staff will also be aided by the addition of sophomore Tim McGrane (Cedar Rapids/Linn-Mar), who transferred from NAIA's St. Ambrose University.

“Our pitchers are all hard workers,” said Hadenfeldt. “I'm looking for leadership and improvement from all of them.”

Cornell has three full-time starters back in the lineup in senior left fielder Matt Pfister (Northfield, Ill./New Trier), senior first baseman Ryan Clausen (Clinton/Clinton) and sophomore third baseman Zach Rogers (Cedar Rapids/Washington).

Rogers was one of the conference's top freshmen a year ago, batting .343 with 14 runs, eight doubles and a .475 slugging percentage. Pfister batted .342 while leading the team with 24 runs, 41 hits and 12 stolen bases. He leads all active Rams with 67 career hits. Clausen started all 34 games last year and knocked in 15 runs.

Outfielder/pitcher Andrew Patzke (Neenah, Wis./Madison Edgewood) is back from an injury-plagued junior campaign in which he hit .302 with 14 RBIs while starting 14 games in the field. Sophomore catcher Ryan Nordtvedt (Cottage Grove, Minn./Park) and sophomore shortstop Milton Kurschner (Blanchardville, Wis./Pecatonica) also gained starting experience in their first collegiate seasons.

Searls, Clausen, Pfister and Muir will serve as team captains.

“Our captains have done a good job to prepare for a successful season,” Hadenfeldt said. “I feel good about where we're at. This is a tight group. They've all put work in and taken ownership of the program.”

The Rams have 10 scheduled home dates this spring, including a four-game homestand against Saint Mary's (Minn.) March 19-20 in Mount Vernon. Cornell opens IIAC play with a three-game set at home against Luther March 25-26.

“We need the nonconference to get us ready for the Iowa Conference, which I think will be as tough as it's ever been,” Hadenfeldt said. “I don't think it's unrealistic to be one of the top six teams in the conference. We have guys looking to get into the conference tournament for the first time in their careers. My goal is to put these guys in position to make that happen.”