ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell baseball team begins its final stretch of games on Wednesday when it travels to Vestal, N.Y., for a 3:30 p.m. contest against Binghamton. The Big Red will then play a split series this weekend against Princeton, facing the Tigers in a pair of games on Friday beginning at noon before the scene shifts to Princeton, N.J., on Sunday for another doubleheader. All told, the Big Red will play five games over the next five days at three different sites.

Cornell enters the week with a 13-19 overall record and a 6-10 mark in Ivy League play. The Big Red trails division-leading Columbia by five games and second-place Penn by three games, and with those two teams squaring off this weekend, even with a sweep of Princeton this weekend, the Big Red can not claim a share of first place.

Still, there is plenty to play for, as Cornell, with six games remaining in the season, can finish .500 on the season with six wins, marking the first time the Big Red would be even on the year since going 18-18-1 in the 1998 season. Additionally, a sweep of Princeton this weekend would make Cornell .500 in league play for the second straight season, something that has never happened since Ivy League play began in 1993.

Adding to the festivities of the weekend, Friday's doubleheader against Princeton will serve as Senior Day, with the eight-member Class of 2010 being honored on the field in between games of the doubleheader.

Before the Big Red gets to Friday, however, Cornell will first face Binghamton for the fourth time this season in a 3 p.m. contest on Wednesday. Cornell will try to split the season series against the Bearcats, as Binghamton has a 2-1 lead in the first three games. The two teams split the doubleheader that opened the season for the Big Red on March 16 at Hoy Field, with Binghamton claiming a 5-3 win in the opener and Cornell winning, 7-2, in the nightcap. Then on April 6 at Hoy Field, the Bearcats won a 10-9 decision in 12 innings.

Cornell's hitters combined for a .293 average in the three games against Binghamton this season, led by Jerry Vitiello's 3-for-6 performance on April 6. Brian Billigen, Mickey Brodsky and Kyle Groth each have gone 4-for-10 against the Bearcats, with Groth scoring a team-best four runs. Billigen and Frank Hager have both driven in four runs this season against the Bearcats, with both Hager and Nate David hitting a home run. Big Red pitchers similarly have posted strong numbers against Binghamton, fielding a 4.15 earned-run average in 26 innings with 20 strikeouts. Corey Pappel and Taylor Wood share the team lead in innings pitched with five apiece, with Pappel striking out a team-best five. David Rochefort is the only player to have pitched more than once this season against Binghamton, throwing three scoreless innings and striking out four in two appearances.

For the season, Brodsky leads the Cornell offense with a .371 batting average, and is joined by Brandon Lee (.323) and Billigen (.306) in hitting better than .300. As a team, Cornell is hitting .275 for the year. Brodsky has scored a team-best 19 runs with Billigen driving in a team-high 21 runs from the leadoff spot. Groth has a team-best five home runs, with David belting four and Billigen and Jadd Schmeltzer both hitting three. David also leads the team in stolen bases, successfully swiping all six bases he attempted.

On the mound for Cornell, Tony Bertucci leads the regular starters with a 2.95 earned-run average in 36.2 innings of work, striking out 26 over the season. Corey Pappel has also been strong in seven starts, posting a 3.40 ERA with a team-best 40 strikeouts in 39.2 innings. Taylor Wood leads the team in innings pitched with 40.1, posting a 7.14 ERA and 20 strikeouts. Matt Hill has also gotten four starts this season, posting a 8.00 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 27 innings of work. Out of the bullpen, David Rochefort has been nearly unhittable, posting a sparkling 0.42 ERA in 21.1 innings, striking out 18. Rochefort also has three wins in relief to lead the team in that category.

Binghamton enters Wednesday's game tied with Maine atop the America East standings with a 16-17 overall record and a 7-3 mark in league play, and have won five straight games. As a team, the Bearcats are hitting .318, with eight regulars batting better than .300 for the season. Jim Calderone leads the team with a .397 average while Henry Dunn has a team-best 40 runs scored. Corey Taylor has clubbed a team-best eight home runs and also leads the squad with 41 runs batted in and 14 stolen bases.

On the mound, Bearcat pitchers have combined for a 6.05 earned-run average, led by James Giulietti among regulars with a 1.94 mark and a team-best five wins. Giulietti leads the team in strikeouts (47) and innings pitched (52), while Alex Adami has a team-best two saves.

Princeton, meanwhile, dropped three of four last weekend to Penn to fall out of the divisional title chase. The Tigers enter the week at 10-27 overall and 5-11 in Ivy League play, one game behind the Big Red. Princeton has struggled at the plate, combining for a .258 average, with just two regulars batting better than .300 on the season. Noel Gonzales-Luna leads the team with a .315 average, with Sam Mulroy hitting a team-best eight home runs, scoring 32 times and driving in 30 runs. Matt Bowman is a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts on the year.

Princeton's pitchers have also struggled on the season, combining for a 7.97 earned-run average. Dan Barnes leads the regular starters with a 5.71 earned-run average in 41 innings of work. David Palms has a team-best 44.1 innings of work, with Zak Hermans picking up a team-high three wins. Kevin Link leads the team with 33 strikeouts in 32.1 innings of work, pitching mostly out of the bullpen.

Cornell and Princeton split the first four meetings last season, with both teams winning one of the games of the two doubleheaders. The Big Red and Tigers finished tied atop the Gehrig Division at 10-10, and a one-game playoff was needed to determine the division's representative in the Ivy League Championship Series. In that one-game playoff, the Big Red put everything together, scoring nine times in the bottom of the first at Hoy Field, and tying the single-game strikeout record with 18 punchouts in a 9-0 victory. Still, Princeton leads the all-time series, 132-81-2, dating back to 1888.

Following the series with Princeton, the Big Red will close out the 2010 season on Thursday with a 3 p.m. contest against cross-town rival Ithaca College at Hoy Field.