Box Score (Columbia 2, Cornell 1)
Box Score (Columbia 12, Cornell 2)
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Cornell baseball team opened Gehrig Division play with a pair of defeats at the hands of in-state rival Columbia on Saturday afternoon. The Big Red lost a tight 2-1 affair in the opener before falling by a 12-2 in a rain-shortened contest in game two to the Lions.
Marshall Yanzick,
Chris Cruz and
Brenton Peters each had a pair of hits on the day for the Big Red, as Cornell managed just nine hits in the two games against Columbia pitching. Peters,
Frank Hager and
Mickey Brodsky accounted for the three Big Red runs, while Hager,
Ben Swinford and
Brian Billigen each posted one RBI on the afternoon.
Columbia took the lead in the bottom of the first in the opener, scoring on a sacrifice fly off Cornell starter
Jadd Schmeltzer. The Big Red tied the score in the third as Peters singled to right and advanced all the way to third on a fielding error, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Billigen to tie the score at one.
In the sixth, the Lions scored the go-ahead run, combining a leadoff double with a run-scoring single to take a 2-1 lead. Cornell went down in order in the top of the seventh to fall by the 1-0 margin. Schmeltzer took the loss, allowing two runs on five hits, striking out three.
Game two started out well for Cornell, as the Big Red took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Brodsky drew a two-out walk and scored on a triple by Hager, who then came home when Swinford singled to short. Columbia responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning off starter
Corey Pappel, led by a two-run home run by Dario Pizzano. The Lions would add two more in the third and two more in the fifth, chasing Pappel from the contest after 4.2 innings of work, allowing six earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts.
Joe Sinopoli came on in relief and worked two innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits with one strikeout before the game was called in the Columbia half of the sixth.
The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday with a twinbill at noon in New York City.
