MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The final games of the 2025 Knox College softball season ended with a pair of 8-0 losses — the second a five-inning perfect game — at Cornell College on Saturday afternoon. The two wins for the host Rams extended their winning streak to five while boosting their record to 8-8 in the Midwest Conference and 16-19 overall, while the Prairie Fire wrapped up the year at 1-15 in the league and 2-35 overall.

Daelynn Rhodes (8-5) twirled the five-inning perfect game in the nightcap, striking out six in her gem. She got all the runs she needed in the first on an RBI double off the bat of Elise Oleson.

Through four innings, Cornell had just three runs and Knox still had hope. But in the bottom of the fifth, the Rams broke out the big sticks, bashing three homers, two triples and a double that drove in the fifth runs of the inning to bring the game to an abrupt end. Londyn Nelson (1-13) took the loss for the Prairie Fire.

In the opener, Cornell pitcher Lexi Ellermeier (5-8) was almost as effective as Rhodes, holding the Prairie Fire to one hit and issuing one walk over five shutout innings, striking out four along the way. Holly Kremer recorded the final three outs before the Rams scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth that ended the game by the run rule.

Sophomore Janet Lentini (1-7) retired the side in order in the first and fourth frames, but had trouble getting the third out otherwise. The Rams scored their first six runs after two were out, putting two on the board in the second, three in the third and another in the fifth.

Most of the damage was done by the bottom of the Cornell lineup as the last two hitters both went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while the top five batters in the order were a combined 1-for-17, though they did score four runs.

Junior Kylie Thomson banged out the lone Knox hit with two down in the fourth.