WASHINGTON — The baseball team is off to its first 6-0 start since 1906 following a Saturday doubleheader sweep of George Washington, 6-3 and 5-3. Sophomore Connor Kaufmann and freshman Brent Jones both improved to 2-0 on the season, and senior Marshall Yanzick expanded his hit streak to 11 games dating back to last year.
 
The Big Red pounded out 23 hits on day, with eight different players recording a hit in the opener. Senior Brian Billigen – the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week – had five hits on the day, including a 4-for-4 performance in the nightcap. Sophomore Ben Swinford chipped in with a three-run home run.
 
With the win in the opener, Cornell became 5-0 for the first time since 1950. That year, Cornell won April games against Hobart, Fordham, Penn, Rochester and Harvard to kick off its season before falling to Syracuse on May 3. To find a better start would require going considerably further back, when the Big Red was 9-0 to start the 1906 season.
 
GAME 1 (Cornell 6, George Washington 3) — Box Score
The Big Red took advantage of four unearned runs and a four-run fourth inning. Yanzick scored on a fielder's choice in the first inning, but Cornell fell behind when GW countered with a pair of runs in the second. Kaufmann allowed just two other runners into scoring position in his five innings of work, fanning four.
 
Cornell surged ahead by batting around in the fourth. Senior Brandon Lee led off with a single up the middle, then sophomore Ben Swinford became the fifth Big Red player to get plunked by a pitch from GW starter Aaron Weisberg. A successful Brenton Peters bunt pushed the runners into scoring position, then Yanzick's single to center scored Lee to tie the game at 2. After Billigen lined out to left for the frame's second out, Yanzick scored the go-ahead run when Cruz reached second on an error by the GW right fielder. Cruz then came around to score on a single up the middle by freshman Matt Hall.
 
Junior Houston Hawley worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh, then both teams scored a run in the eighth. Freshman Kellen Urbon set down GW 1-2-3 in the ninth for his second save in as many collegiate appearances.
 
GAME 2 (Cornell 5, George Washington 3) — Box Score
It's two starts and two complete games for Jones, who had a five-inning shutout before going the distance for seven innings on Saturday. The freshman righty struck out seven without issuing a walk, with two of the Colonials' runs earned.
 
Cornell took the lead in the third inning on a solo home run to right by Billigen; his second of the season. Swinford then blasted a three-run homer down the left-field line with one out in the fourth inning – his first at the collegiate level. Three consecutive singles followed to scored JD Whetsel, who was 3-for-5 in his first appearance at the leadoff spot.
 
With Cornell holding a 5-0 lead, Jones had faced just two more than the minimum through five shutout innings when GW's Kyle Gelling became the first runner to advance past first base with a one-out triple in the sixth. He later scored on a sacrifice fly.
 
The Colonials threatened again in the seventh with three straight one-out singles to load the bases. What could have been a game-ending double play turned sour for the Big Red on a throwing error that allowed two runs to score and brought the tying run to the plate, but Jones set down a pinch-hitter with a foul out to conclude the day.
 
The Big Red will finish its four-game set with George Washington (2-10) with another doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon, with the second game slated for approximately 30 minutes following the completion of the opener.