Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Seniors Brian Billigen and Marshall Yanzick each had three hits and an RBI, but the Big Red baseball team surrendered five runs in the fifth inning en route to a 9-6 loss to Virginia Tech on Tuesday at English Field.
 
Cornell (9-3), which entered the day with an NCAA-leading team batting average of .356, kept its offensive prowess going with four runs in the second inning to take a 4-1 lead.
 
Freshman Kevin Tatum and senior Frank Hager led off with singles, then a one-out walk by Ben Swinford loaded the bases and brought up the top of the lineup. Junior Brenton Peters drove in Tatum with a sacrifice fly, with Hager advancing to third on the play. Yanzick then followed with a base hit to drive in Hager, which gave the Big Red a 2-1 lead and extended Yanzick's hitting streak to 17 games. A passed ball allowed Swinford to score and Yanzick to advance to second base. That led to an RBI singles from Billigen to cap the scoring in the frame.
 
Virginia Tech (16-6) took a 7-4 lead after batting around in the fifth inning. It was the Hokies' 11th come-from-behind victory and eighth time they have won a game in which they trailed entering the fifth.
 
Billigen scored the Big Red's fifth run in the sixth after a two-out single. He advanced to second on sophomore Chris Cruz's base hit, then came around to score on a throwing error. Cornell added one more run in the ninth. Tatum reached on a walk, then pinch runner Spenser Souza stole second and came around to score on senior Brandon Lee's two-out single.
 
Making his second collegiate appearance, freshman LHP worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, yielding two hits with no walks.
 
The Big Red wraps up the quick set with Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday before moving along to a four-game series from Thursday through Saturday at Longwood.