GAME INFORMATION
Game 1: Cornell at Navy
First Pitch: Saturday, February 28 - 11 a.m.
Site: Bishop Stadium (1,500) - Annapolis, Md.

Game 2: Cornell at Navy
First Pitch: Saturday, February 28 - approx. 2 p.m.
Site: Bishop Stadium (1,500) - Annapolis, Md.

Game 3: Cornell at Navy
First Pitch: Sunday, March 1 - 11 a.m.
Site: Bishop Stadium (1,500) - Annapolis, Md.

Game 4: Cornell at Navy
First Pitch: Sunday, March 1 - approx. 2 p.m.
Site: Bishop Stadium (1,500) - Annapolis, Md.
Records: Cornell (0-0) • Navy (1-1-1)
Series Record: Navy leads, 46-26
Last Meeting: Navy won, 11-2, on April 11, 1992, in Annapolis, Md.
Live Audio: none
Live Stats: www.NavySports.com

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell baseball team opens the 2009 season this weekend, traveling to Navy for a four-game set on Saturday and Sunday. The Big Red and Midshipmen will play a doubleheader each day, opening with a seven-inning game before playing nine innings in the nightcap.

ABOUT CORNELL
Cornell returns 13 letterwinners from the 2008 season and has a returning starter at seven of the nine positions in the lineup from last year's squad that went 12-27 overall and 6-14 in the Ivy League. Headlining the returning players are three players who earned All-Ivy recognition last season, including first-team utility player Nathan Ford. Also back are second-team honoree Domenic Di Ricco and honorable mention selection Mickey Brodsky. Ford split time between third base and catcher last season and put up stellar offensive numbers, while Di Ricco was the team's mainstay in left field. Brodsky, meanwhile, split time between first base and designated hitter in his freshman season. On the mound, Cornell returns its two leaders in innings pitched from last season in junior Matt Hill and sophomore Corey Pappel, who also tied for the team lead with 36 strikeouts apiece. Hill earned five wins and picked up a save for the Big Red a year ago, while Pappel won two starts in his freshman campaign.

HEAD COACH BILL WALKENBACH
The second Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball at Cornell University, Bill Walkenbach returns to his alma mater for his first season directing the Big Red. A 1998 graduate of Cornell University, Walkenbach spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Franklin & Marshall College, where he led the Diplomats to a pair of conference championships, a 69-42 overall record and a 43-11 mark in league play. He also guided F&M to just its third NCAA tournament victory in program history in 2006, finishing the year ranked 13th in the nation. He is assisted by associate head coach Tom Ford and assistant coach Scott Marsh.

DOUBLE YOUR FUN
Senior Nathan Ford had an outstanding year at the plate as a junior in 2008, setting a school record with 17 doubles on the season. Ford has 29 career two-base hits, leaving him 16 shy of Mike Kalfopoulos' four-year total of 45 from 1982-85.

BETTER THAN AVERAGE
Nathan Ford was more than just a doubles machine as a junior, as he batted .410 last season (59 hits in 144 at-bats) to post the third-highest single-season batting average in Cornell history. His .410 average trailed only Jamie Balttstein's .425 average in 1992 and Mike Kalfopoulos' .413 in 1984.

FIVE ALIVE
Senior catcher Adam Jacobs returns for a fifth season behind the plate in 2009. The three-year letterman appeared in just eight games in 2006 and was granted a medical hardship year by the Ivy League. Last season, Jacobs appeared in 20 games, starting 19 times, before suffering an injury and missing the remainder of the season. Now healthy again, Jacobs should provide stability to a young pitching staff that features only one senior in RHP Stephen Osterer.

ON THE HILL
Matt Hill returns to anchor the pitching staff after a solid sophomore season that saw him establish himself as the top option on the mound. Hill led the Big Red in wins (five), complete games (three), innings pitched (55.0) and was tied for the team lead with 36 strikeouts and a save.

NEW FACES
Six newcomers will begin play for the Big Red this season, including five freshmen and a junior transfer. Freshmen infielders Frank Hager and Marshall Yanzick, outfielder Brian Billigen, catcher Brandon Lee and pitcher Patrick Lewicki will provide building blocks for the future, while junior transfer Matt Langseth spent two seasons at Ohlone Community College in California and will help fill the hole left by the graduation of three-year starter Jimmy Heinz at second base.

UP NEXT
The Big Red will head to Philadelphia, Pa., for a pair of games against Villanova on March 8.