Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
 
ITHACA, N.Y. — The baseball team began its home season just like it ended last season — with a walk-off home run.

Junior Ben Swinford hit a two-run homer with one out in the seventh inning to lift the Big Red to a 5-4 victory over Albany in the second game of a doubleheader at Hoy Field on Tuesday. The teams split the twin bill, with the Great Danes securing a 4-1 win in the opener.
 
It was the first home run of the season for Swinford, but he has experience at dramatic game-winning hits. His 12th-inning blast against at Princeton on April 29, 2012 helped the Big Red secure the Lou Gehrig Division title and eventually go on to win the Ivy League Championship Series.
 
Swinford was 1-for-1 in Tuesday's second game, but he was his other two plate appearances were also significant. His sacrifice fly in the second inning plated senior Spenser Souza to give the Big Red a 2-0 lead, following Souza's RBI triple.
 
After Albany tied the score at 2, Swinford drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fifth, then stole his seventh base of the season to advance to second. Freshman Eliot Lowell successfully poked a groundout to the right side of the infield to move Swinford to third with only one out.

Senior Tom D'Alessandro then drew a walk to put runners on the corners, setting the table for an attempted double steal. The Albany catcher threw to second base, only to have D'Alessandro stop halfway to the bag. The Great Danes' infielder dropped the catcher's throw, allowing ample time for Swinford to come home and score before Albany could run down D'Alessandro for the final out.
 
Albany (6-12) went back ahead courtesy of Craig Lepre's two-run homer in the top of the sixth. Junior Zach McCulley worked a scoreless seventh inning to earn his second victory in in the last week.
 
Cornell (12-6) dropped the opener, 4-1, with Albany righty Austin Chase tossing a complete-game three-hitter. The Big Red got its lone run in the sixth. JD Whetsel led off with a singled down the left field line, then he stole second and advanced to third on a D'Alessandro groundout to the second baseman. Sophomore Matt Hall, who now leads the team with a .309 average and is second on the squad with 12 RBIs, plated Whetsel with a sacrifice fly to right.
 
Senior Brenton Peters was the lone Big Red player to have multiple hits on the day, going 2-for-6.
 
Cornell is scheduled to open Ivy League play this weekend, playing host to Brown on Saturday and Yale on Sunday in a pair of noon doubleheaders.