ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sophomore Ben Swinford 3-for-5 with two triples and two RBI and junior Brenton Peters delivered a three-run triple in the bottom of the eighth for the baseball team in a 12-7 victory over Harvard in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader at Hoy Field. The Crimson took the opener, 6-2, in the Ivy League debut for both teams.

Game 1 -- Harvard 6, Cornell 2 -- Box Score
Harvard's Brent Suter pitched a complete-game gem in the opener, yielding just four hits on the slick artificial surface. He fanned seven while walking none through the seven innings.

The Big Red scratched out its runs in the third and sixth innings, after Harvard was already ahead after plating two runs in the top of the first. The speed of freshman JD Whetsel was a large factor in the first run, as he reached on a fielding error, then advanced to third after his stolen base produced a throw that sprayed into center field. Senior Marshall Yanzick drove Whetsel in with a two-out single.

Cornell's second run came on sophomore Chris Cruz's team-leading seventh home run of the season. With two out in the sixth, Cruz crushed a ball over the  fence in right-center field. He also led off the fourth with a single and was the team's only multiple-hitter against Suter.

Freshman Brent Jones suffered the first loss of his collegiate career, working 5 1/3 innings with two of the six runs he surrendered coming unearned. The Big Red had three errors in the contest.

Game 2 -- Cornell 12, Harvard 7 -- Box Score
Freshman Brian McAfee earned the victory in the second game to improve to 3-0 on the season, gutting out seven innings of work after a rocky start featuring four unearned runs. Harvard stormed out to a 6-0 lead through the top of the fifth inning, but the Big Red countered with a big six-run bottom of the fifth to tie the score after sending 12 batters to the plate.

Tom D'Alessandro led off with a single, then Peters worked out a walk. After an out on a batted ball hitting the batter out of the box, senior Brian Billigen plated the first run with an RBI double. The second out came on a strikeout, but the Big Red had plenty of offense left before the final out. Senior Frank Hager was hit by a pitch to load the bases, then freshman Kevin Tatum earned an RBI walk to cut the hosts' deficit to 6-2. That ended the day for Harvard starter Joey Novak, but senior catcher Brandon Lee then greeted reliever Baron Davis with a two-run single to right-center. Swinford followed with an RBI single, making the score 6-5, then Whetsel walked. Peters then plated the tying run with a single to left.

The Big Red surged ahead in the sixth. Cruz and Hager singled with one out, then Tatum plated them both with a double to left-center. He would then come around to score on Swinford's second triple of the game, making the score 9-6.

Harvard cut its deficit to two in the top of the eighth, but the Big Red got some breathing run when Peters cranked a triple over the right fielder's head to clear the bases and give Cornell its biggest lead of the day. Freshman Kellen Urbon then worked around a walk in the ninth to end the game on a called third strike.

Cornell (14-5-1, 1-1 Ivy League) is back in action at noon Sunday with another Ivy League doubleheader against defending Rolfe Division champion Dartmouth.