An early season roadtrip to the Sunshine state has helped fuel the offense of the Cornell Rams baseball team (2-2 overall). The Rams opened their latest campaign in Florida, participating in the Russmatt Invitational in Auburndale. Four games into the young season and the Rams have already plated 35 runs.

Cornell’s season opener Saturday versus the No. 22 Wartburg Knights provided little offensive output. Tied at one with runners at second and third in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Rams pitching staff was called for a balk. This allowed the game winning run to cross the plate for the Knights, taking the contest 2-1. Sophomore Walker Breard, a 2014 Washington graduate, provided Cornell’s only run of the game, a solo home run in the second inning.

The Rams offense responded in a big way Sunday afternoon, exploding for 23 hits, including 10 going for extra bases, in an 18-5 rout of the Wayneburg University Yellow Jackets. Breard sent a grand slam over the fence in a seven-run seventh inning. Senior T.J Raush, a 2012 Washington graduate, scored two runs and drove in another in the Rams’ first victory of the season.

Cornell’s offense continued to roll Monday in a doubleheader split versus the Clark University Cougars. Game one featured a monster second inning offensively for the Rams, scoring eight runs on four hits, propelling Cornell to a 12-5 victory. Junior Andy Dodson, a 2013 Lone Tree graduate, drove in two runs on two hits. Clark University answered by scattering eight runs over the first five innings, winning game two, 8-4.

The Cornell College baseball team sits with a record of 2-2 this season. The Ram’s Florida trip concludes with a pair of games against competition from the state of Iowa. Cornell squares off against Iowa Wesleyan today and will battle Central College tomorrow. First pitch of both games is set for 1:30 p.m.