DAVIDSON, N.C. — The baseball team continues its annual Spring Break trip with a pair of 6 p.m. games on Tuesday and Wednesday at Davidson. The Big Red then concludes the trip with three games at Villanova over the weekend as it continues preparations for defense of its Ivy League title.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Cornell at Davidson
SITE: Wilson Field — Davidson, N.C.
2013 RECORDS: Cornell 6-5, Davidson 8-9
SERIES RECORD: Davidson leads, 2-1
LAST MEETING: Split a two-game series March 17-18, 2007 (8-6 CU, 7-5 DC)
LIVE WEBCAST: www.davidsonwildcats.com/showcase/
LIVE STATS: http://sidearmstats.com/davidson/baseball/scoreboard.aspx
GAME 1: 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
GAME 2: 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
 
Cornell at Villanova
SITE: Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth — Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
2013 RECORDS (as of Monday): Cornell 6-5, Villanova 5-12
SERIES RECORD: Davidson leads, 2-1
LAST MEETING: Split a two-game series March 17-18, 2007 (8-6 CU, 7-5 DC)
LIVE AUDIO: www.villanova.com/allaccess/?media=370066
LIVE STATS: www.villanova.com/gametracker/universe/
GAME 1: 3:15 p.m. on Friday, March 22, 2013
GAME 2: 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, 2013
GAME 3: 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 24, 2013
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell won the final two games of a three-game weekend set at Appalachian State in a matchup of two NCAA regional qualifiers from 2012. Sophomore OF JD Whetsel was 6-for-11 in the series with seven runs scored, three walks and three stolen bases. He also hit a three-run homer in the Big Red's 15-5 victory in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader. Sophomore LHP Nick Busto (1-0, 0.95) earned his first victory of the season with seven innings of work, surrendering no earned runs. Cornell then won the rubber game of the series on Sunday, 8-4, with senior OF Spenser Souza smashing a grand slam in the Big Red's five-run ninth inning. … Junior LHP Zach McCulley (0-0, 4.50) and sophomore RHP Roberto Suppa (0-0, 2.57) are the Big Red's probable starters against Davidson, though not necessarily in that order. … After spending last season in a reserve role, senior OF Spenser Souza has taken the early lead in numerous categories with a .356 average, 16 hits, four doubles and seven stolen bases.
 
THE HEAD COACH
In his fifth season as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball at Cornell University, Bill Walkenbach has brought the Big Red into the spotlight with the program's first league title since 1977 and its first Ivy League title since the circuit added baseball 20 years ago. Named head coach on Aug. 14, 2008, Walkenbach is in his second stint as a coach for the Big Red, having previously served as an assistant coach under current associate head coach Tom Ford from 2003-05. He returned to Cornell after spending three seasons as the head coach at Franklin & Marshall, guiding the Diplomats to an NCAA tournament berth in 2006 and a 69-42 record. Now in his eighth season as a collegiate head coach, Walkenbach has a career record of 151-134-1 (.530).
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH DAVIDSON
Cornell is 1-2 all-time against Davidson, with the teams renewing the series with a two-game set in 2007. The Big Red took the opener of the series, 8-6, thanks to seven runs in the first three innings. The Wildcats rebounded with a 7-5 victory the following day. The only other time the programs met was way back on April 2, 1929, when Davidson used a 5-0 victory to hand Cornell a loss in the second game of its season.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH VILLANOVA
Cornell is 1-9 all-time against Villanova, with that one victory coming in 2004. The Wildcats have won two games since, including a come-from-behind 10-9 victory on March 11, 2007 in the teams' last meeting. The first time the teams met was two centuries ago, when Villanova won 11-1 on May 5, 1899.
 
ABOUT DAVIDSON
The Wildcats are 8-9, having won two of three games last weekend against Furman in Southern Conference play. … Senior 1B Andrew Barna is leading the team with a .338 average to go with three home runs and 11 RBIs. Sophomore 3B David Daniels (.333) and junior OF Nathan Becker (.328) are also hitting above .300, with Becker tied for the team lead in doubles (four) and stolen bases (three). … Freshman OF Lee Miller has a team-high four homers, and junior OF Forrest Brandt leads the way with 15 RBIs. … Freshman RHP Rob Caudill (0-1, 9.00) is Davidson's probable Tuesday starter. He's made five appearances to date, but his only other start came last Wednesday against No. 5 South Carolina. He surrendered four runs over two innings and was the pitcher of record in a 12-4 loss. The Wildcats' Wednesday starter is TBA.
 
ABOUT VILLANOVA
As of Tuesday, the Wildcats are 5-12 following a 2-1 weekend at the Big Five Baseball Bash. Villanova defeated Chicago State, 8-2, on Friday, then split a Sunday doubleheader with Marist. The Wildcats are batting just .228 through 17 games. … Senior 2B Tyler Sciacca is leading the team offensively with a .354 average, a pair of triples and one of the Wildcats' two home runs. His eight RBIs are tied for the team lead with senior OF Steve Schrenk, who is second on the squad with a .276 average. … Senior OF Paul Rambaud has a team-high 10 runs and five stolen bases. He's also been hit by six pitches through 17 games. … Sophomore LHP Josh Harris (2-2, 1.33) has emerged as the team's ace, having surrendered just three runs (two earned) in his last three starts. He pitched a complete game against Marist on Sunday in a hard-luck 1-0 loss. … Junior RHP Pat Young (1-1, 3.54) and Senior RHP Stephen Ostapeck (0-1, 4.50) are the team's other primary starters. The 6-foot-7 Young has 34 strikeouts in 28 innings' work. … Senior LHP Matt Longfled (0-1, 0.00) has yet to surrender a hit this season, but has walked seven in 6.2 innings. He is tied for the team lead in relief appearances with junior RHP Chris Haggarty (1-0, 0.69). Sophomore RHP JB Kole (0-1, 6.14) has the team's two saves.
 
MORE THAN A LITTLE HISTORY
Cornell is coming off a 2012 season which was filled with dramatic victories, marked by a perfect 5-0 mark in extra-inning affairs. The Big Red went 31-17-1 to set a program record for victories, win the Ivy League title and advance to the NCAA Regionals. It was an extraordinary turnaround in just a year's time after the Big Red posted a 10-30 record in 2011. The team's 14-6 record in Ivy League play was also a program high in either the Ivy League or Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League. Not surprisingly, Cornell mopped up with 11 All-Ivy selections, including a pair of first-team pitchers in Connor Kaufmann, who returns for his junior season, and Kellen Urbon, who returns as a sophomore.
 
UNHITTABLE
Sophomore RHP Connor Kaufmann tossed the program's first no-hitter in nearly 32 years on April 1, 2012 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 last solo no-hitter for Cornell was April 8, 1979, when Greg Myers worked five innings in a 1-0 victory over Canisius. Kaufmann went on to be selected as an All-Ivy League First Team selection.
 
URBON LEGEND
Sophomore RHP Kellen Urbon made quite a statement in his 21 appearances last season. He set a program record with nine saves, and his miniscule 0.47 earned-run average was the loweest ever recorded by a Cornell pitcher who has seen more than 30 innings of action. Not surprisingly, he has reeled in countless awards and honors as a result. Urbon was a unanimous selection as a first-team relief pitcher and was also named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year — the first time a Cornellian has taken the award since head coach Bill Walkenbach did it himself in 1995. He was also a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Preseason All-America Third Team selection in December.
 
CONTROL FREAK
Sophomore RHP Brian McAfee posted a 6-1 record in his collegiate debut, with the lone loss on the season coming against East Carolina in the NCAA Regionals. One of the big keys to his success was a 41:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His average of 1.35 walks per nine innings ranked 35th in the nation. McAfee was an All-Ivy League Second Team pick in 2012. His first start of 2013 yielded similar results, as he fanned six while issuing no walks in seven scoreless innings of work.
 
CRUZ CONTROL
Junior OF Chris Cruz set a single-season program record for home runs in 2012, bashing 12 — the last one coming in walk-off fashion in decisive Game 3 of the Ivy League Championship Series. His historic run actually started at UMES, when he smacked two home runs in the first game against the Hawks. He led the Ivy League in home runs last season, and his average of 0.24 home runs per game ranked 35th in the country.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell opens the home portion of its schedule at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26 with a doubleheader against Albany in its final non-league games before it begins its defense of the program's first Ivy League title. The Big Red opens Ivy play over the weekend with a home doubleheader against Brown on Saturday, March 30 and two more games against Yale on Saturday, March 31.