ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell baseball team takes a brief break from Ivy League play to face Binghamton in a single, nine-inning contest at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Hoy Field in Ithaca. The Big Red will be closing out its current five-game home stand with the contest against the Bearcats.

Cornell enters the game with a 6-9 record on the season and is 2-2 in Ivy League play. The Big Red is also 2-2 on its current five-game home stand, splitting a pair of doubleheaders against Dartmouth and Harvard over the weekend. Cornell took the Ivy League opener on Saturday against Dartmouth, 2-0, before falling to the Big Green in the nightcap, 16-1. On Sunday against Havard, the roles were reversed, as the Crimson won the opener, 12-6, before Cornell responded with an 11-2 win in the nightcap.

Tuesday's contest will be a nine-inning affair, something that Cornell has struggled with this season. The Big Red is just 3-6 on the season in nine-inning games, while going 3-3 in seven-inning contests this season. Cornell is also 3-3 in games played at Hoy Field this season, splitting a trio of doubleheaders against Binghamton, Dartmouth and Harvard.

Offensively for Cornell, Brandon Lee leads the team with a .378 batting average, closely followed by Mickey Brodsky's .375 mark. Brian Billigen (.340) and Nate David (.302) are also hitting better than .300 on the season. Cornell as a team is hitting .269 through the first 15 games of the season. The offense has been a balanced attack, with Brodsky recording 10 RBI, and five others with at least eight driven in. Run scoring is much the same, as David and Marshall Yanzick lead the club with nine runs scored apiece, with eight players having scored at least six times. David also leads the team in stolen bases, having been successful in all five of his attempts this season.

On the mound, the Big Red has a pair of starters with 2-1 marks in Corey Pappel and Tony Bertucci. Pappel leads the team in innings pitched (23.0) and strikeouts (27), posting a 2.35 earned-run average on the young season. Bertucci has been sharp as well, with a 3.06 earned-run average in 17.2 innings, striking out 12. Also pitching well early on has been closer David Rochefort, who has a 1.08 earned-run average in 8.1 innings with a pair of saves and nine strikeouts. As a team, the Big Red has a 5.52 earned-run average.

Binghamton enters Tuesday's contest on a five-game losing skid, including losing all three games of a series at Louisiana-Monroe last weekend. The Bearcats also faced perennial power LSU last week, falling by a 13-7 margin. With the losing streak, the Bearcats enter the game with a 6-14 record, having yet to begin America East play for the season.

The Bearcat offense is led by Davd Ciocchi, one of four players to hit better than .300 on the season. Ciocchi has a .354 batting average and a team-best 18 runs scored. Corey Taylor provides the long-ball threat, hitting seven home runs already on the season to go along with a team-best 25 runs batted in. Binghamton has also been active on the basepaths, stealing 28 bases in 36 opportunities.

Bearcat pitchers have struggled this season, recording a team 7.32 earned-run average. Among pitchers with more than 10 innings of action on the season, Zach Juliano has a team-best 2.61 earned-run average in seven relief appearances, while James Giulietti has a team-high 30 strikeouts in 34.2 innings with a 2.86 earned-run average. The two other regular starters, Jay Lynch and Mike Augliera, both have earned-run averages over 6.00 on the season.

Cornell and Binghamton have already met twice this season, with both clubs claiming one victory in a doubleheader on March 16 at Hoy Field. Nate David had a 3-for-5 day at the plate, driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice. Mickey Brodsky, Jadd Schmeltzer, Kyle Groth and Brian Billigen also each had a pair of hits on the day, with Groth scoring three times and driving in a pair. Billigen also had two runs batted in on the day. David and Billigen were both successful in stolen base attempts, while Cornell catchers Brandon Lee and Mike Lopez were successful in throwing out all three Binghamton would-be base stealers. Corey Pappel was the hard-luck loser, giving up just one run in five innings of work, striking out five, while Taylor Wood took the win, allowing two runs and striking out three in six innings of work. The two teams are scheduled to play a fourth time this season on April 28 in Vestal, N.Y.

The Big Red is currently in a tie for third place in the Ivy League Gehrig Division, tied with Princeton and a game behind both Penn and Columbia. Both the Quakers and Lions swept Yale last weekend at home and split with Brown, as five of the eight Ivy League teams went 2-2 on the opening weekend of conference action.

Following the contest with Binghamton, Cornell will take to the road for a pair of Ivy League doubleheaders, first playing two games at Yale on Saturday before taking on Brown twice on Sunday. Both doubleheaders are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. Cornell returns home for a doubleheader against LeMoyne on April 14, beginning at 2 p.m. at Hoy Field.