ITHACA, N.Y. -- Standing in fourth place in the Ivy League Gehrig Division, the Cornell baseball team will try to climb back into the divisional title race when it travels to Penn for a four-game series this weekend. The Big Red and Quakers will play a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, starting at noon both days at Meiklejohn Stadium in Philadelphia, Pa.

A year ago, after cross-divisional play had wrapped up, the Big Red had a 2-6 record, but recovered within the division to post a 10-10 mark and tie Princeton for the divisional crown, and advanced to the league championship series with a win in the divisional tiebreaker game, 9-0. Cornell finds itself in the same position this season, with a 2-6 mark after the eight games against the four Rolfe Division foes, and will need a similar run within the division to have a shot at the divisional title.

Making this season's task tougher is the fact that last season, Cornell was tied for second in the division after cross-divisional play with the same 2-6 record, two games behind Columbia, who had gone 4-4 against the Rolfe Division. This time around, Cornell is four games back of Columbia, which went 6-2 in the first two weekends of the league season. Even Penn, this season at 4-4 in league play, was 0-8 a year ago at the same point of the season.

Cornell showed signs of turning the season around on Wednesday when it snapped a five-game losing streak with a pair of come-from-behind wins against LeMoyne to sweep a doubleheader from the Dolphins at Hoy Field. The Big Red rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the middle of the sixth inning of game one with six runs in the bottom half of the inning for a 10-7 victory in the opener, then trailed, 5-4, after six innings in the nightcap before scoring a pair in the bottom of the seventh for the 6-5 win. The wins moved the Big Red's overall record to 8-14 on the season.

Cornell's offense is batting .284 on the season, with four regulars batting over .300. Mickey Brodsky leads the way with his .380 average, leading the team with 15 runs scored. Also over .300 on the year are Frank Hager (.333), Brian Billigen (.316) and Brandon Lee (.316). Hager has a team-best 17 runs batted in and 11 doubles on the year, while Billigen has 10 runs scored, 16 driven in and three triples to go along with a pair of home runs. Also seeing regular action in recent games is Brenton Peters, who has a .542 batting average but is 20 at-bats short of qualifying for the minimum. Peters has also scored nine runs and has a sparkling .833 slugging percentage.

On the mound for Cornell, the Big Red features a pair of top-end starters in Corey Pappel and Tony Bertucci. Both players are 2-1 on the year with an earned-run average under 3.00 (Pappel is 2.70, Bertucci is 2.78). Pappel leads the staff with 33 strikeouts in 30 innings of work, while Bertucci is second in strikeouts with 15. David Rochefort has picked up where he left off last season, picking up three saves with a 1-1 record. Rochefort has allowed just one earned run in 13 innings while striking out 13.

Penn, which enters the weekend at 14-14 overall and 4-4 in Ivy League play, is batting .313 on the season, with four regulars batting better than .300. Dan Williams leads the Quaker offense with a .419 average, scoring a team-best 37 runs. Tom Grandieri has a team-leading 29 runs batted in to go along with his .388 average, with Derek Vigoa and William Gordon both over .300 for the season. On the mound, Penn has two starters with a sub-5.00 earned-run average in Vince Voiro and Chris McNulty. Voiro leads the team with 40.2 innings of work, striking out 32 with a 2-1 record and a 4.43 earned-run average. McNulty, meanwhile, has a 3-1 mark with a 4.58 earned-run average. Reliever Reid Terry has a team-high four wins in 16 appearances out of the bullpen and a 0.40 earned-run average.

Cornell claimed three of the four meetings with the Quakers last season in Ithaca, splitting the Saturday doubleheader before claiming a sweep on Sunday.

After the weekend series against Penn, the Big Red will return to New York for a six-game home stand, taking on Siena in a doubleheader on Tuesday before battling division-leading Columbia in a four-game set next weekend.