Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A two-run triple by Nathan Ford in the seventh inning lifted the Cornell baseball team to a 7-5 victory over LeMoyne in a non-league baseball contest on Tuesday afternoon at Rockwell Field in Syracuse, N.Y.

Brian Billigen, Mickey Brodsky and Brandon Lee each had a pair of hits on the day for the Big Red, which improves to 9-17 on the season. Mike Carroll got the win in relief, working two innings and allowing one run on one hit while striking out one. Stephen Osterer worked 1.2 innings of one-hit ball for his first save of the season.

Cornell got on the board in the first inning, taking advantage of an error on Dolphin third-baseman Matt Marra. With two out, Nathan Ford reached when Marra's throw to first sailed high of the bag at first. After Mickey Brodsky walked, Frank Hager followed with a single up the middle, scoring Ford from second without a throw.

The Dolphins tied the score in the same manner in the bottom of the first, as, with two out, Chris Edmonson doubled off the wall in right center and scored on a single up the middle by Rich Brown.

Cornell regained the lead in the third inning as Ford and Brodsky again combined at the plate. Ford drew a two-out walk before Brodsky hit a looping fly ball into short right field. The right fielder and second baseman converged on the ball, but it dropped safely as the two players collided and remained down long enough for Ford to race home and Brodsky to reach third.

A Brandon Lee home run to lead off the fifth inning gave Cornell a 3-1 lead, but the Dolphins chipped away at the margin, tying the score with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

In the seventh, Cornell broke the game open with three runs. Billigen started the outburst with a bunt single to second and moved to second on a wild pitch. Hardinger then hit into a fielder's choice, with Billigen safe at third on a dropped tag attempt. Ford then followed with a triple into the corner in right, scoring both Billigen and Hardinger. Mickey Brodsky then lined a double that one-hopped the wall in left-center, scoring Ford easily as Cornell took a three-run lead.

Le Moyne closed the gap in the bottom of the eighth when Brown hit a lead-off home run to left off Dan Lea, then followed with another home run by Matt Marra. Lea then got a fly ball out before Stephen Osterer came on and got a strikeout and groundout to escape the inning without further damage.

Cornell got an insurance run in the top of the ninth when Brodsky reached on an error and moved to third on a pair of wild pitches. Domenic Di Ricco then drove him home with a two-out single to center. Osterer then worked a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

Cornell returns to action on Saturday, opening up a four-game set at Columbia with a Saturday doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon in New York City.