Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell baseball team rallied from a 9-2 deficit to send the game to extra innings, only to fall to Binghamton, 10-9, in 12 innings on Tuesday afternoon at Hoy Field in Ithaca. The Big Red scored four times in the seventh, twice in the eighth and once in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.

The Big Red used 24 players in the game, with Frank Hager and Jerry Vitiello both leading the way with three hits apiece. Brian Billigen, Matt Langseth, Mickey Brodsky, Kyle Groth and Brenton Peters each chipped in with a pair of base hits, as the Big Red banged out 16 hits on the day. Billigen scored twice and drove in another pair, while Vitiello scored three times and Hager scored one and drove in three. Brodsky added a run and two RBI in the contest.

Seven Cornell pitchers saw time on the day, with Jadd Schmeltzer getting the start and working 3.1 innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits with one strikeout. Mike Kazley worked two and two-thirds of an inning of one-run relief, surrendering just three hits and one walk with one strikeout. From there, Mike Carroll, Brodsky, David Rochefort and Billigen combined to throw five scoreless innings as the Big Red climbed back into the contest. Rick Marks took the loss, allowing one unearned run on one hit and one walk in the 12th inning.

For Binghamton, Jim Calderone had four hits and Henry Dunn and C.J. Lukaszewski both had three hits. Dunn led the way with five runs driven in, with Calderone scoring three times and Dunn, Lukaszewski and Joel Stubbs each scoring twice. Zach Juliano worked 3.2 innings and allowed one run in the win, while Matt Simone worked the 12th for his first save of the season.

Binghamton grabbed control of the game with four runs in the third and four more in the fourth off Schmeltzer. Cornell got on the board in the third, with Brodsky hitting a sacrifice fly to score Vitiello and Hager lining a single to right to score Billigen.

The Bearcats added a run in the sixth to make the score 9-2, and Cornell's offense began to come alive in the seventh. Vitiello got the rally started with a double to left, and scored when Billigen lined a double down the line in left. He then came home when Langseth roped a double down the line in right, and scored on Brodsky's single down the left-field line. A wild pitch moved him to second, and he scored on Hager's double to the gap in left-center, cutting the deficit to 9-6.

In the seventh, Groth got the Big Red started again with a hard single to first base, beating out the throw, and moved to second on Vitiello's single up the middle. Billigen then singled to right, scoring Groth and moving Vitiello to second with one out. Langseth then flied out to center, but Vitiello moved to third, where he later scored on a wild pitch to cut Cornell's deficit to 9-8. The Big Red then tied the game in the bottom of the ninth when Hager roped the first pitch of the ninth inning over the wall in left, sending the game to extra innings.

Binghamton loaded the bases in the 11th, but Billigen got out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout. In the 12th, though, Dunn was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score the go-ahead run. In the bottom half of the inning, a double by Peters to the warning track in right and a pair of walks loaded the bases for the Big Red with one out, but Simone got a pop-out and a fielder's choice to close out the contest.

Cornell returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Yale for a 12 p.m. doubleheader against the Bulldogs in New Haven, Conn.