Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- With a masterful pitching performance in game one and timely hitting in game two, the Cornell baseball team opened up the Bill Walkenbach era with a doubleheader sweep over Navy on Saturday afternoon in Annapolis, Md. Cornell won the opener, 7-0, behind a complete-game shutout from junior Matt Hill, then claimed a 5-4 victory in the nightcap.

In the opener, Hill worked seven innings, surrendering just a pair of hits and two walks while striking out three Midshipmen. He did not allow a runner beyond second base as he faced just 25 batters in posting his first complete-game shutout of the season. Sophomore Mickey Brodsky and junior Nate David provided the offensive punch, with David going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Brodsky going 2-for-4 with a run and two driven in.

Cornell got on the board in the top of the first as junior Matt Langseth scored on Brodsky's one-out single to left-center. The score would remain that way until the fifth inning, when the Big Red struck for three runs. David led off the inning with a single and moved to third on senior Domenic Di Ricco's single to left-center. A wild pitch moved Di Ricco into scoring position, and Brodsky delivered with a single up the middle to score David and move Di Ricco to third. After sophomore Jadd Schmeltzer walked to load the bases, senior Scott Hardinger walked to drive in Di Ricco and classmate Adam Jacobs was hit by a pitch, forcing in Brodsky to give the Big Red a 4-0 lead.

That would be more than enough for Hill, who retired each of the last six batters he faced. Cornell tacked on another three runs in the sixth, with David, Di Ricco and senior Nathan Ford each crossing the plate in the frame.

In game two, Cornell again got on the board early, this time with Langseth doing much of the damage himself. The junior got a one-out single up the middle, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch, scoring on Ford's RBI groundout. The Big Red tacked on another run in the second, with junior Jerry Vitiello drawing a one-out walk, moving to second on David's two-out single and scoring on Di Ricco's single through the right side.

Navy would get those two runs back, though, tagging starting pitcher Taylor Wood for a two-run single in the bottom half of the inning. The score would stay the same until the fifth, when Schmeltzer delivered an RBI double down the left-field line, scoring Ford and Brodsky. Hardinger followed with an RBI groundout to give the Big Red a 4-2 lead.

Navy charged right back, however, as a pair of baserunners with two out and a pair of wild pitches scored two runs and chased Wood from the game in favor of senior Stephen Osterer. Osterer allowed a single and a walk to load the bases, but got out of the inning with a groundout to short as the score remained tied at four.

In the sixth, Di Ricco put the Big Red ahead to stay, drawing a two-out walk and stealing second to move into scoring position. That paid off when Langseth hit a single to left, scoring the senior left fielder for the eventual game-winning run. Brodsky came on in relief and fanned each of the first three hitters he faced and sent down all nine batters who came to the plate against him in order as Cornell took the lead into the ninth. In the bottom half of the ninth, junior closer David Rochefort came on and struck out the side to earn his first save of the season.

Langseth and Ford would both go 2-for-5 on the game with a run scored and one driven in. Brodsky got the win in relief, with Rochefort picking up the save.

The wins are the first in the Cornell coaching career of Bill Walkenbach, who returned to his alma mater last summer as the second Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball. Walkenbach had spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Franklin & Marshall College.

Cornell will look to keep the early-season momentum going on Sunday when the Big Red again faces the Naval Academy in a doubleheader in Annapolis, Md. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 11 a.m.