Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell baseball team closed out the 2010 season with a 12-7 victory over Ithaca College on Thursday afternoon, banging out 12 hits in the victory. Cornell finishes the season at 18-20 overall, while Ithaca fell to 16-16 on the season with the loss.

Mickey Brodsky led the way for the Big Red offense, going 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI. Kyle Groth also had a strong day at the plate for the Big Red, going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and three driven in.

Matt Hill took the victory in his final appearance for the Big Red, working 1.2 innings of relief for the win. Corey Pappel got the start and worked four innings, allowing four runs on two hits and seven walks. Hill allowed three runs on three hits and three walks. Rick Marks worked 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just a pair of hits, while David Rochefort worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the contest.

Jon Krakower went 2-for-3 to lead the Ithaca offense on the night, scoring twice, while Mike Preite was 2-for-3 with two runs and a pair of RBI. Jasper Adams took the loss, working four innings and allowing five earned runs on seven hits, striking out one.

Cornell jumped out early, scoring a pair of runs in the second inning. Nate David scored on Kyle Groth's double to right, and Groth came home on Jadd Schmeltzer's single to left. Ithaca would tie the score in the third, with Krakower scoring on a wild pitch and Matt Keller scoring on a quirky double play when Rob Zappia struck out and T.J. Abone was thrown out in a rundown trying to steal second. Abone stayed alive on the base paths long enough for Keller to score and tie the score before the inning ended.

Cornell regained the lead, this time for good, with four runs in the bottom of the third inning. Matt Langseth scored when Frank Hager reached on an error, Brodsky scored on a wild pitch, and Groth roped a double down the line to right to score Hager and Nate David.

Ithaca cut into the lead again in the fifth, chasing Pappel from the contest after drawing three straight walks to open the inning. Hill came on to strike out Trevor Wolf for the first out, but issued a walk of his own to force home Preite. A groundout fielder's choice scored Abone from third, but the Bombers ran out of the inning when Kevin Primm tried to induce a similar play from the third inning, only to have Zappia thrown out at home by a strong throw from first baseman Brodsky.

The Big Red restored the four-run margin with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, with Jerry Vitiello hitting a two-run triple to the gap in right-center, scoring Groth and Schmeltzer. The Bombers responed again, though, plating a trio of runs in the top of the sixth. Preite hit a one-out, two-run single up the middle to score Krakower and Keller, and would later score on Abone's double to left-center, cutting Cornell's lead to 8-7. After another walk by Hill, Marks came on to get David Ahonen out on strikes to end the Bomber rally.

Brodsky put Cornell back up by two with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and Cornell added another three runs in the seventh. Schmeltzer led off the inning being hit by a pitch, and moved to second on Vitiello's single to right. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners up, and Brian Billigen was intentionally walked to load the bases. That move backfired when Matt Langseth drew a four-pitch walk, forcing in Spencer Souza, who had come on to pinch-run for Schmeltzer. Brodsky then hit into a fielder's choice to score Vitiello, and Hager followed with a sharp single to third to score Billigen as Cornell capped the scoring.

Behind Marks and Rochefort, the Big Red allowed just two Ithaca baserunners over the final three innings, sending the side down in order in the seventh and ninth innings. The Bombers would strand one run on third base in the eighth as the pair slammed the door on the game and the Big Red's season.