In a season chock-full of firsts, next up on the Cornell baseball team's checklist is an attempt to win the program's first NCAA regional. The Big Red will trek south to Chapel Hill, N.C. to take on top-seeded host North Carolina, Conference USA's East Carolina and Big East champion St. John's in a double-elimination tournament which starts Friday. Cornell starts off with the tall order of taking on North Carolina, the nation's sixth-ranked team, approximately 50 minutes after the completion of the day's first game, which pits East Carolina against St. John's at 11 a.m. The Big Red will then be guaranteed at least one more game Saturday against either East Carolina or St. John's.  The winner of the regional will then advance to face the Tucson Regional champion in a best-of-three Super Regional series.

NCAA CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL INFORMATION
SITE: Chapel Hill, N.C. — Boshamer Stadium
WEBCAST: TBA
AUDIOCAST: www.cornellbigred.com/showcase
LIVE STATS: TBA
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SCHEDULE:
Friday, June 1
Game 1: #2 East Carolina (35-22-1) vs. #3 St. John's (37-21), 11 a.m.
Game 2: #1 North Carolina (44-14) vs. #4 Cornell (31-15-1), 50 minutes after completion of first game 
Saturday, June 2
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 1 p.m.
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 3
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 6 p.m.
Monday, June 4
Game 7: 6 p.m. - If necessary
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Cornell postseason media guide (PDF)
   ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is returning to action after nearly four weeks since it won the program's first Ivy League title and first conference crown since winning the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League in 1977. The Big Red went to the limit of a best-of-three league championship series against visiting Dartmouth, winning in exhilarating fashion when sophomore OF Chris Cruz slugged a two-run walkoff home run in the 11th inning to propel Cornell to the 3-1 victory on May 6 in Game 3 and its program-record 31st win. Freshman RHP Kellen Urbon tossed five innings of shutout relief to earn the victory after classmate RHP Brian McAfee started, surrendering just one run in six innings. Senior SS Marshall Yanzick had a team-leading six hits over the three-game set against the Big Green, including a 5-for-5 outing in Game 1 on May 5, which the Big Red won 11-3. Dartmouth, which has won five straight Ivy League Red Rolfe Division titles, responded with a 7-1 victory in Game 2 to force a third and deciding game the following day at Cornell's Hoy Field. The win in Game 3 was the second time the Big Red won a do-or-die game in extra innings this season, with the first coming a week earlier at Princeton to clinch the Lou Gehrig Division title and the right to host the Ivy League Championship Series. Once again, Urbon was the victor with 6.1 innings of relief to set the stage for Ben Swinford's solo home run in the 12th inning to spur a 4-3 victory. The dramatic victories are just the latest chapters in a season that will go down as one of the best in the program's 143-year history. Cornell started the season 6-0 for the first time since 1906, then rattled off a 10-game Ivy League winning streak. The Big Red has shown a knack for late-game heroics, having won eight games this season entering its final at-bat either trailing or tied — including a perfect 5-0 in extra-inning affairs.
 
CORNELL AT NCAAs
The Big Red's 31 victories coming into this weekend are the most its ever had in a season, topping the previous mark of 29 in 1977 — which is the only other time the program has qualified for the regional stage of the NCAA tournament. Cornell got off to a good start at that event with a 10-7 victory in 12 innings over St. John's in the Northeast Regional in Middletown, Conn. Ace Gary Gronowski tossed a complete game for his ninth victory of the season. Cornell then won the next game, 9-7, vs. UConn, but the season ended after a pair of losses the next day to Temple and St. John's. The Big Red hasn't been to NCAAs since.
 
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA
The Tar Heels have earned one of the eight national seeds for the fifth time in the last six seasons and will be making its 27th all-time appearance at the event. North Carolina earned an at-large bid after falling to Miami (Fla.) in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in a game that ended the Tar Heels' 14-game winning streak. Similar to Cornell, the key to North Carolina's success this season has been pitching. The Tar Heels rank third in the country with a team ERA of 2.54, led by dual aces — sophomore Kent Emanuel (LH, 8-4, 2.03, 22 BB, 99 K) and freshman Benton Moss (RH, 6-2, 1.97, 23 BB, 82 K). Junior R.C. Orlan (LH, 8-1, 2.01, 10 BB, 62 K) leads the squad with 36 appearances out of the bullpen, two more than classmate Michael Morin (RH, 6-3, 0.83, 17 SV, 17 BB, 48 K), who is only three off the national lead in saves. The offense is paced by sophomore 3B Colin Moran (.362, 3 HR, 34 RBI), who returned to the lineup in early May after missing 21 games with a broken hand. The Baseball America Freshman of the Year in 2011 leads the team in batting average by 59 points this season. The Tar Heels rank fourth in country with 284 walks.
 
ABOUT ST. JOHN'S
The Red Storm won its seventh Big East title on Sunday with a 7-3 victory over South Florida, paving the way for the program's third straight and 34th all-time NCAA appearance. St. John's ranks 36th in the country with 365 runs, but is just 100th with a .284 batting average. Plate discipline and a solid running game make the offense click, with 250 walks drawn and 89 stolen bases — both ranking in the top 30 nationally. Leading the way is senior SS/2B Matt Wessinger (.348, 6 HR, 45 RBI, 12 2B, 34-36 SB), who hails from the Syracuse suburb of Liverpool. Another regional product, junior OF Jeremy Baltz (.342, 7 HR, 49 RBI, 10 2B, 17-22 SB) is a three-time All-Big East Conference First Team selection. He is from the Binghamton suburb of Vestal. The starting corps is led by junior Sean Hagan (LH, 8-2, 2.58, 21 BB, 63 K). Junior Kyle Hansen (RH, 4-5, 3.44, 26 BB, 100 K) ranks 30th in the country in strikeouts, and junior Matt Carsiti (RH, 6-5, 3.79, 29 BB, 62 K) rounds out the squad's rotation. Senior Stephen Rivera (RH, 5-0, 1.84, 15 BB, 49 K) is tied for the team lead in appearances with senior Kevin Kilpatrick (LH, 2-2, 4.63, 5 SV, 13 BB, 28 K).
 
ABOUT EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates were toppled by Tulane and Central Florida before defeating Alabama-Birmingham in the Conference USA tournament, but they still earned an at-large bid to NCAA Regionals. East Carolina has a team batting average of .293, which ranks 50th in the country. Junior INF John Wooten (.341, 8 HR, 37 RBI, 10 2B) leads the squad in batting and home runs. He is also one off the team lead in RBI, shared by senior 3B Corey Thompson (.318, 4 HR, 38 RBI, 13 2B) and senior C Zach Wright (.295, 5 HR, 38 RBI, 9-11 SB). Thompson was a high school teammate of Cornell junior pitcher Houston Hawley at Apex, N.C. The rotation is led by senior Kevin Brandt (LH, 7-6, 1.85, 26 BB, 66 K) and junior Jharel Cotton (RH, 8-2, 3.67, 21 BB, 60 K). Junior Tyler Joyner (LH, 5-2, 3.17, 11 BB, 65 K) has also made 12 starts. Junior reliever Andy Smithmyer (RH, 5-2, 1.54, 22 BB, 63 K) leads the team in ERA. Drew Reynolds (3-0, 3.33, 10 SV, 10 BB, 19 K) and Tanner Merritt (3-6, 2.91, 8 SV, 10 BB, 32 K) have been sharing the closing duties. This is the Pirates' 26th NCAA appearance.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. REGIONAL OPPONENTS
Cornell is 12-6 all-time against North Carolina, with the Tar Heels winning the last four meetings. The last time the Big Red won against UNC was a 4-2 decision on April 2, 1941 at Chapel Hill. The teams haven't met since April 1, 1969, when the Tar Heels won a 7-5 affair. The following day was the first-ever meeting between Cornell and East Carolina. The host Pirates won two of three games over a two-day span in the only contests between the teams. St. John's is a slightly more familiar foe for Cornell, with the teams splittling eight all-time meetings with four wins apiece. The Red Storm and Big Red first met on May 7, 1889 in Ithaca, with visiting St. John's escaping with a 6-5 victory. The teams' most noteworthy meetings came in 1977, when Cornell won its first-ever came at an NCAA Regional, 10-7 in 12 innings against St. John's. But the Red Storm rebounded with an 11-9 victory two days later to eliminate Cornell from contention. The following year, in 1978, the Red Storm won two of three games against the Big Red in an ECAC Regional qualifying tournament in the programs' last meetings.
 
CRUZ CONTROL
Sophomore Chris Cruz made headlines with his walk-off home run in Game 3 of the Ivy League Championship Series, but it was hardly a new storyline for him. The slugger started his season off with a bang against Maryland-Eastern Shore, smashing two home runs in Saturday's first game en route to a 15-4 victory, then he added two more roundtrippers the following weekend at George Washington. Now up to a program-record 12 home runs, Cruz is just the third Cornellian to reach double-digits in home runs in a season. The previous program record was shared by Eric Kirby (1995) and Erik Rico (2002). Cruz's 12 home runs led the Ivy League and his 0.26 home runs per game ranks 26th in the country.
 
UNHITTABLE
Sophomore RHP Connor Kaufmann tossed the program's first no-hitter in nearly 32 years on April 1 against Dartmouth. He needed just 80 pitches to mow down the Big Green for seven innings on a day in which the mound was under constant repair due to a steady rain. Kaufmann faced the minimum 21 batters, retiring the final 16 consecutively after walks in the first and second innings. No runner advance past first base — the first was doubled off on a flyout to right, then the second was picked off by Kaufmann. For his efforts, Kaufmann became the first Cornellian to be tabbed as the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week since Corey Pappel on April 28, 2009. The last Big Red no-hitter was tossed by Kerry Brooks, Rob Wilson and Doug Petillo against Rochester on April 5, 1989 in another seven-inning affair. The last solo no-hitter for Cornell was April 8, 1979, when Greg Myers worked five innings in a 1-0 victory over Canisius. To find the last Big Red solo no-hitter of at least seven innings, you would have to go back to Larry Rafalski's nine-inning blanking of Hartwick on April 25, 1968.
 
DON'T BE FOOLED
Sophomore RHP Connor Kaufmann has a 4.00 ERA, but he's been a lot better than even that number would indicate. Throw away his two worst starts of the year (March 17 at Delaware State and April 27 against Princeton), and Kaufmann is 7-0 with a 1.81 ERA. In his six Ivy League starts, Kaufmann was 3-1 with a 2.35 ERA, including the no-hitter against Dartmouth, an eight-inning complete game without surrendering an unearned run on April 15 against Columbia and three-hit shutout on April 21 at Penn. Each effort earned him Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors.
 
THE HITS KEEP COMING
The Big Red had two lengthy hitting streaks come and go this season. Senior shortstop Marshall Yanzick had a 19-game hitting streak — which dated back to late 2011 — snapped March 23 at Longwood. Then classmate Brian Billigen had a 16-game hitting streak halted March 31, a stretch that included nine games with multiple hits. Billigen has 54 hits with a .362 batting average and .570 slugging percentage, which both rank fourth in the Ivy League.
 
AND THE AWARD GOES TO ...
Senior Brian Billigen was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on March 6. Batting his customary third spot in the lineup, Billigen was 8-for-18 (.444) in the four games against Maryland-Eastern Shore with a .833 slugging percentage. He finished the weekend with six runs, two doubles, one triple, one home run, one stolen base and 10 RBI. In the span of two innings in the season-opener, Billigen recorded a three-run triple and a two-run double. In the series finale, he finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with two runs, four RBIs and a stolen base. It was the first time a Cornellian won the award since Nate David shared the honor on April 28, 2009. With his next hit, Billigen will surpass current head coach Bill Walkenbach for sixth on the program's all-time hits list.
 
URBON LEGEND
Cornell is already more than tripled its win total from last season, with an impact freshman class making its mark. Freshman RHP Kellen Urbon leads the team with 20 appearances out of the bullpen, and he has set a program record with nine saves. His miniscule 0.51 earned-run average would also be the loweest ever recorded by a Cornell pitcher who has seen more than 30 innings of action. Opposing hitters are hitting just .163 against Urbon, but he is more than just a closer. Urbon pitched 6.1 innings of relief without allowing an earned run in the Big Red's division-clinching 12-inning victory over Princeton. The effort got him Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors. His encore was a similar performance in Game 3 of the Ivy League Championship Series, when he pitched five scoreless innings to set the stage for Chris Cruz's walk-off homer in the 11th inning.
 
CONTROL FREAK
Freshman RHP Brian McAfee is 6-0 with a sterling 41:8 walk-to-strikeout ratio, which ranks 33rd in the country, and his 1.16 walks per nine innings ranks 18th in the nation. McAfee tossed eight shutout innings with three strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over Columbia on April 15, earning Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Week honors. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and yielded just three hits on the day. He followed up that effort with a strong road no-decision effort April 21 at Penn before turning in clutch starts with the Big Red in must-win situations. McAfee was just one out away from a quality start in a 4-3 victory on April 29 at Princeton, then he surrendered just one run in six innings of work against Dartmouth in Game 3 of the Ivy League Championship Series on May 6.
 
IT'S ACADEMIC
Senior Frank Hager was named one of the 11 members of the College Sports Information Directors Association's Academic All-District Baseball Team. Hager has started all of the Big Red's 47 games at first base, ranking second on the team with a .305 batting average and 51 hits. He leads the team with 15 doubles, and has also added a triple and three home runs. An economics major, Hager has a 3.31 grade-point average.
 
IVY PROWESS
The Big Red has set a program record for league victories in a season — both in the Ivy League (which began play in 1993) and the EIBL (1930-1992). As a result, Cornell had a major presence on the All-Ivy League teams, with freshman RHP Kellen Urbon being named the Rookie of the Year while earning a first-team spot alongside sophomore RHP Connor Kaufmann. The team's 14 league victories topped the previous high of 12, which was achieved once in the EIBL (1982) and once in the Ivy League (1998).
 
UP NEXT
The winner of the Chapel Hill Regional will advance to the Super Regionals, where it will take on the winner of the Tucson Regional in a best-of-three series June 8-11.