GAME 27 - Cornell at Columbia
FIRST PITCH: Saturday, April 18 - 12 p.m.
SITE: Robertson Field - New York, N.Y.

GAME 28 - Cornell at Columbia
FIRST PITCH: Saturday, April 18 - approx. 2:30 p.m.
SITE: Robertson Field - New York, N.Y.

GAME 29 - Cornell at Columbia
FIRST PITCH: Sunday, April 19 - 12 p.m.
SITE: Robertson Field - New York, N.Y.

GAME 30 - Cornell at Columbia
FIRST PITCH: Sunday, April 19 - approx. 2:30 p.m.
SITE: Robertson Field - New York, N.Y.

LIVE STATS - www.goColumbiaLions.com

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Winners of five of its last six games, the Cornell baseball team heads to New York for a critical Ivy League matchup against Columbia this weekend. The Big Red and Lions will play a four-game set with doubleheaders scheduled for noon on both Saturday and Sunday. Cornell and Columbia enter the weekend as part of a three-way tie, along with Princeton, for first place in the Ivy League Gehrig Division.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior Nathan Ford's two-run triple in the seventh inning lifted the Big Red to a 7-5 win over LeMoyne in a non-league game on Tuesday in Syracuse, N.Y. With the game tied at three, Ford tripled down the right field line to score a pair and later came home on sophomore Mickey Brodsky's double to left-center. Mike Carroll got the win in relief for the Big Red, while Stephen Osterer worked 1.2 innings for his first career save. Brodsky and freshmen Brian Billigen and Brandon Lee each had a pair of hits on the day, with Lee hitting his first career home run in the contest.

ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell enters the weekend with a 9-17 record on the season and 5-7 in Ivy League play, currently tied with Columbia and Princeton for first place in the Gehrig Division. As a team, the Big Red has a .279 batting average and a 6.52 earned-run average. Offensively, Brian Billigen leads the Big Red with a .407 average, while Nathan Ford (.374), Scott Hardinger (.341) and Mickey Brodsky (.316) are also hitting better than .300 among regular hitters. Ford has a team-best 26 runs batted in, while Hardinger has scored a team-high 23 runs. On the mound, sophomore Jadd Schmeltzer has a 3.20 earned run average to lead this weekend's potential starters, with Mickey Brodsky coming in at 5.33 in 25.1 innings of work. Reliever Mike Carroll has a pair of victories out of the bullpen in just 5.2 innings of work over four appearances. Closer David Rochefort has three saves, striking out 20 batters in just 15.2 innings of work.

ABOUT THE LIONS
Columbia enters the weekend with a 9-24 overall record and a 5-7 mark in Ivy League play, having gone 2-3 over its last five games. The Lions dropped three of four last weekend to Princeton before winning a Wednesday contest against Fordham by a 5-3 margin. Columbia hitters have combined for a .262 average this season, paced by Bobby O'Brien as the only hitter above .300 on the year at .317. Mike Roberts and Billy Rumpke are tied for the team lead with 21 runs apiece, while Ron Williams has a team-best 20 RBI. On the mound, Joe Scarlata leads Columbia's staff with a 4.94 earned-run average, pitching a team-high 47.1 innings of work. Scarlata also leads the Lions with 20 strikeouts and has the only four complete games on the staff.

A HOME FOR BILLIGEN
Since Brian Billigen was inserted into the top of the lineup 10 games ago, the Big Red has gone 5-5, a marked improvement over the 4-11 record Cornell sported when the struggling Domenic Di Ricco held the leadoff spot. Billigen now has enough at-bats to qualify for the team leaders and holds the top mark among regulars, hitting .407 on the year.

GOING STREAKING
Nathan Ford's hitting streak reached 13 games with his triple in the seventh inning against LeMoyne on Tuesday. Ford has twice extended his streak with a hit from the seventh inning on, including a walk-off single on April 12 against Penn in the bottom of the ninth in a scheduled seven-inning contest for the 3-2 victory. Should Ford record a base hit in both games of the doubleheader on Saturday, it would extend his streak to a personal-best 15 games, besting the 14-game mark he had in 2008.

NO FREE RIDES
One of the reasons that the Big Red is in contention for the Gehrig Division title comes from increased consistency from the pitching staff. As a unit in league play, the Big Red has only allowed 35 walks, while at the same time racking up 67 strikeouts. The biggest difference between strikeouts and walks among Cornell pitchers in league play is shared by Mickey Brodsky and David Rochefort, who both have eight strikeouts and two walks. Corey Pappel also has a difference of six in that area, fanning 10 and issuing four bases on balls.

UP NEXT
The Big Red again steps out of league play for a doubleheader at Siena on Wednesday. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2 p.m.