MOUNT VERNON, IOWA  – Apparently, the cold weather agrees with the Luther College softball team as much as the Florida sunshine. The Norse earned their 19th win of the season Saturday afternoon, scoring 18 total runs in a sweep of Cornell College. Luther shutdown the Rams in game one, earning a 6-0 victory, before battering its opponent 12-2 for a five inning win in game two. With the sweep, the Norse are now 19-3 overall. 

GAME ONE: (RV) LUTHER (6) vs. CORNELL (0
Luther was seemingly unbothered by the cold and wind, as the team controlled every aspect of game one against Cornell. The bats of three Norse in particular were red hot despite the temps. Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala. / McAdory) was blazing hot from the start, as her RBI single in the top of the second resulted in Luther's first run of the game. Belle Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / Chatfield) was also hot at the plate. After Katie Brennan (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) scored the first run of the game on Allen's RBI single, Berg extended the Norse lead, bringing in Ken Vavrichek (Bloomington, Minn. / The Blake School) from second base to make it 2-0 Luther after two. 

That score held for the ensuing three innings until the Norse tacked on another run in the top of the fifth. Sydney Schultz (Raymond, Iowa / Columbus Catholic) hit a leadoff double to open the inning then later scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Leah Crown (Plato, Minn. / Central) to make it 3-0. Of course, Luther wasn't done scoring. The Norse added two more runs to their total in the top of the sixth, as Brennan and Berg scored to make it a 5-0 ball game. Brennan's speed on the bases forced the Rams first baseman to make an errant throw, as she tried to gun down the speedster at third base. Brennan took advantage, scoring on the error to extend Luther's lead to 4-0. Schultz forced Cornell into a similar play a few batters later, as she scored the fifth run of the game on a throwing error by the center fielder. 

Luther looked poised for a big seventh inning, as a walk by Riley Sauser (Ely, Iowa / Cedar Rapids Prairie) and a double from Crown put runners on second and third with no outs. Sauser's runner, Chloe Wagner (Blair, Wis. / Blair-Taylor) would score the lone run of the inning, however, on an RBI sacrifice fly from Brennan. However, a 1-0 lead would have sufficed for starting pitcher Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee). The fifth year senior was in complete control of the Rams offense, holding Cornell to just two hits in seven innings of play. She also struck out 11, including the final hitter of the game, to secure her 10th "W" of the 2023 season. 

GAME TWO: (RV) LUTHER (12) vs. CORNELL (2) - 5 innings
Early on, it looked like game two would be far closer than the final score indicated, as it took Luther's bats a while to get going. In fact, the Norse did not record their first hit until the third inning of play, despite scoring the first run of the game in the top of the first. Berg drew a leadoff walk and later scored from third on an RBI groundout from Spore, resulting in an early 1-0 lead for Luther. Cornell responded by scoring a run of its own in the bottom of the inning, evening the score at 1-1. 

The Norse first hit of the game eventually resulted in two more runs, as Brennan scored on yet another RBI single from Spore, extending Luther's lead to 2-1. One batter later, Sauser made it 3-1 Norse with a RBI groundout, though Luther's line up had not yet revealed its true power. Two innings later, the Norse unleashed on their unassuming opponent. After the Rams managed to cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth, Luther responded with a barrage of runs in the top of the fifth. In fact, the Norse scored nine runs on eight hits, including RBI doubles from Spore and Anna Forari (Bettendorf, Iowa / Bettendorf). Wagner also hit the first home run of her collegiate career, helping the Norse close the top of the fifth inning with a 12-2 lead. 

While Olivia Engler (Atlantic, Iowa / Atlantic) held Cornell at bay for the first four innings, Sam Thompson (West Salem, Wis. / West Salem) pitched a flawless fifth inning, striking out two of the final three hitters to secure the 12-2 win for Luther. 

TOP NORSE 

• Raven Allen (Birmingham, Ala. / McAdroy) put together her best hitting performance of the season against the Rams, going 2-3 at the plate in game one with a double and an RBI. Belle Berg (Chatfield, Minn. / Chatfield) and Leah Crown (Plato, Minn. / Central) both went 2-4 with an RBI, while Katie Brennan (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) was 1-3 with two runs and an RBI. The senior also went 2-2 in the game two win, scoring three of Luther's 12 runs. 
• Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) improved to 10-2 thanks to another dominating performance in the circle. The fifth year senior pitched her fifth complete game shutout of the 2023 season, allowing just two hits while striking out 11. 
• Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy) went 2-4 at the plate in game two, tallying a team-leading four RBI in the victory. 
• Olivia Engler (Atlantic, Iowa / Atlantic) earned her second win of the season after making third start in the circle for the Norse. The sophomore surrendered just two runs on three hits in four innings of work while striking out a career-high eight batters in the win. 

UP NEXT
Luther will be back in action on Sunday, April 2, as the team is set to host UW-Eau Claire in its home opener. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Decorah, Iowa.