Box Score (Cornell 5, Princeton 0)
Box Score (Princeton 8, Cornell 5)

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Jadd Schmeltzer pitched a four-hit shutout in the opening game of a doubleheader at Princeton on Friday, lifting the Big Red to a split of the twinbill against the Tigers. Cornell claimed a 5-0 victory behind Schmeltzer's strong outing in the opener, then dropped an 8-5 contest in game two.

Frank Hager and Marshall Yanzick both had strong days at the plate to lead the Big Red offense. Hager went 3-for-7 with a double and a home run, scoring three times and driving in three runs. Yanzick went 3-for-9, scoring once and driving in a pair.

Schmeltzer earned his second complete game of the season, allowing four hits over seven innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Corey Pappel got the start in game two and allowed eight runs, but only four of them earned, in 6.1 innings of work with three strikeouts. Rick Marks worked a scoreless inning of relief, and Connor Kaufmann picked up two-thirds of an inning of relief, keeping the Tigers off the scoreboard.

Cornell took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game one, stringing together singles from Yanzick, Hager, Chris Cruz and Ben Swinford. Schmeltzer allowed Princeton runners to reach second in the second and third innings before the Tigers had runners on the corners in the fourth, but he got a strikeout and a strong throw from Mike Lopez to catch Steve Harrington trying to steal second to end the threat.

With the lead still intact, Hager hit a two-run home run to left, scoring Mickey Brodsky, expanding the lead to 4-0. Tom D'Alessandro added an insurance run in the seventh inning with a solo home run to left-center. In the other half of the innings, Schmeltzer sent the final nine Princeton batters down in order to seal the victory.

Game two saw the Big Red take a 1-0 lead in the first when Brian Billigen led off with a double and scored on Yanzick's single up the middle. The Tigers responded with three runs in the second, sparked by a two-run triple, to take a 3-1 lead. The Big Red reclaimed the lead in the third, taking advantage of three errors to score one earned run and two unearned runs and claim a 4-3 lead. Princeton then tied the score in the bottom half of the inning, knotting the score at four.

After the crazy first three innings, both starters settled down in the middle three, as the teams combined for just one hit in the fourth through sixth innings, that being a single by Brandon Lee. In the seventh, the Tigers took a commanding lead with four unearned runs, taking advantage of a pair of Big Red errors in the inning. Cornell got one run back in the eighth, with Hager doubling and scoring on a pair of errors in the Princeton infield, but could not close the margin.

The two teams will make the trek to Ithaca for another doubleheader on Sunday, with game one beginning at noon. Sunday's twinbill will serve as senior day for the seven seniors of the Class of 2011, as they will be recognized on the field between games of the twinbill.