PHILADELPHIA – The stretch drive of the baseball season begins this weekend when the Big Red starts divisional play with a four-game series at Lou Gehrig Division-leading Penn. Cornell enters the weekend three games behind the Quakers in the standings with 12 games to play.

SERIES INFORMATION
Cornell at Penn
SITE: Meiklejohn Stadium – Philadelphia
GAMES 1 & 2: Saturday, April 12, 2014
GAMES 3 & 4: Sunday, April 13, 2014
TIME: First game at noon; second game approximately 30 minutes after the completion of the first game
RECORDS: Cornell 14-11 (5-3 Ivy League); Penn 16-11 (8-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 145-117-2
LAST MEETING: Cornell won three of four April 20-21, 2013 in Ithaca, N.Y. (0-6L, 4-2W, 3-1W, 8-2W)
AUDIO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: www.pennathletics.com
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Cornell is coming off a 6-1 victory over Binghamton in a non-league game Wednesday in Vestal, N.Y. The Big Red scored five of its six runs over the final two innings, and seven pitchers combined to strike out 11 Bearcats hitters. Last weekend, the Big Red dropped its opener against Yale, 1-0 in an extra inning, before rebounding to split with the Red Rolfe Division leaders. Cornell then swept Brown a day later to improve to 5-3 in Ivy play. Senior Chris Cruz played a major role in each of the three victories. In Game 2 against Yale, Cruz hit a two-run home run in the first inning. He then hit a two-run double to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning in the opener against Brown. In the nightcap, Cruz's eighth-inning home run spurred the Big Red's rally and eventual 6-5 victory. … Junior RHP Brent Jones tossed his first complete game of the season in Game 1 against Brown. He surrendered just four hits and an unearned run while striking out seven without issuing a walk. Freshman Paul Balestrieri then earned the victory in the second game with five innings of scoreless relief. … Junior 1B/LF Ryan Karl leads the team with a .298 batting average, nine doubles, 22 RBI and .574 slugging percentage. He is also tied with Cruz for the team lead in home runs (five) and triples (1). … Senior 1B Ryan Plantier has a .294 averagem 11 walks and .394 on-base percentage – all of which ranks second on the team. … Junior CF JD Whetsel, who had an 11-game hitting streak broken last week, is batting .287 exclusively from the leadoff spot. He has a team-high 17 walks and 11 stolen bases, which is tied for the team lead with senior SS Tom D'Alessandro. … Eight of the Big Red's nine most frequent starting batters are hitting .263 or better. … The Big Red's pitching staff has a strong 3.13 earned run average – though it would be an even better 2.34 without the effects of a three-game series in March at the launching pad at James Madison. The staff posted a 3.13 ERA last season, which was the best the program had seen since its 2.25 ERA in 1973. … Sophomore LHP Michael Byrne (2-2, 1.56) hasn't yet surrendered a home run in 34.2 innings of work. He was a hard-luck loser Saturday at Yale, when he was saddled with an unearned run after his departure in the eighth inning of a 1-0 game. … The Big Red has lost just one of its eight series so far this year. It started the year by taking two of three against Navy, then it won the final three games of a four-game set at George Washington before winning two of three at James Madison. After being swept by Sacred Heart, Cornell split doubleheaders with Dartmouth, Harvard, George Mason and Yale. The Big Red then swept Brown on Sunday and defeated Binghamton on Wednesday.
 
THE HEAD COACH
In his sixth season as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball at Cornell University, Bill Walkenbach brought the Big Red into the spotlight in 2012 with the program's first league title since 1977 and its first Ivy League title since the circuit added baseball 20 years prior. 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 ninth season as a collegiate head coach, Walkenbach has a career record of 182-160-1 (.532).
 
ABOUT PENN
The Quakers are off to the Ivy League's first 8-0 start since Dartmouth did it in 2009, but they also saw their 11-game overall winning streak come to a close Tuesday with a 4-2 extra-inning loss to Saint Joseph's. Penn rebounded with an 8-4 victory Wednesday against visiting Saint Peter's. … The Quakers lead the Ivy League with a .281 team batting average, led by the .327 mark posted by senior LF/RF Rick Brebner and junior 1B Jeff McGarry. Brebner has a league-best seven home runs to go with a team-high nine doubles, 26 RBI and .626 slugging percentage. McGarry is one of three players with four home runs. Sophomore 2B Michael Vilardo is batting .323 with two triples. … Penn's team ERA of 3.81 is second in the league only to Cornell's 3.13. Junior RHP Connor Cuff (3-1, 1.12, 3 CGs, 2 SHOs) is the staff ace, having tossed a shutout against the Big Red last season. Junior RHP Dan Gautieri (2-3, 4.33, 2 CGs, 39 K in 35.1 innings) and junior LHP Ronnie Glenn (2-2, 5.29) and freshman RHP Jake Cousins (3-0, 0.95) round out the team's most likely weekend rotation. … Freshman LHP Mike Reitcheck (0-2, 5.00) leads the squad with nine appearances out of the bullpen, and he has all four of the team's saves. Senior RHP Pat Bet (0-0, 0.00) hasn't surrendered an earned run in nine innings over eight appearances, and three other pitchers have been used seven times this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. PENN
Penn is the most common opponent to the Big Red in program history, with this weekend's four games running the series tally to 268 games. The Big Red won the final three games of last year's series – marking the third consecutive season Cornell has won three of four against the Quakers. Penn won last season's opener, 6-0, before Cornell took the second game, 4-2. Michael Byrne surrendered just one run on two hits over eight innings in his first Ivy League start. Kevin Tatum was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. In the third game, Brian McAfee retired 13 straight batters in the Big Red's 3-1 victory. Cornell then wrapped up the series with an 8-2 rout, spearheaded by a double, home run and four RBI from Chris Cruz. … The first meeting between the teams was May 21, 1888, with the Quakers securing a 20-5 victory. The Big Red answered back the following day, winning 10-8. While Penn has the series advantage, 145-117-2, Cornell has enjoyed success in the most recent meetings between the squads. In the last 42 meetings, the Big Red is 30-12 against the Quakers with just one series loss in the last 11 years. Cornell's only four-game sweep of a Lou Gehrig Division series since the Ivy League added baseball play 19 years ago came against Penn in 2005.
 
HONOR ROLL
The Big Red had back-to-back Ivy League Players of the Week for the first time since 2001 when senior SS Tom D'Alessandro received the honor March 18 and junior 1B/OF Ryan Karl garnered the award March 25. D'Alessandro's selection was buoyed by a program-record six stolen bases in one game against George Washington. Karl was then 8-for-15 with two doubles and four home runs in the three-game series at James Madison. His last home run was a grand slam with two outs in the top of the ninth to send the series finale to extra innings, which the Big Red won, 14-8. The last time the Big Red had consecutive Ivy League Players of the Week was when Erik Rico won the honor on consecutive weeks in 2001.
 
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
Cornell was consistently in the Top 50 in the nation last season in stolen bases, finishing up at 1.55 steals per game. While The Big Red is slightly off that pace this season, currently ranking 91st in the nation at 1.20 steals per game as of Thursday, the squad's one-two punch at the top of the lineup has wreaked plenty of havoc on the base paths this season. Senior SS Tom D'Alessandro is tied for the team with 11 stolen bases, including a program-record six in a March 9 victory at George Washington. The Big Red had nine steals in that final game against GW, which was just one shy of a program record 10 set in 1952 against a team from nearby Sampson Air Force Base. Junior leadoff hitter JD Whetsel also has 11 stolen bases so far after leading the team with 19 last season en route to All-Ivy Second Team honors. Whetsel has reached base in 24 of 25 games this season and had an 11-game hitting streak at one point.
 
BYRNE NOTICE
The Ivy League Rookie of the Year came from Cornell in 2012 (Kellen Urbon), and the Big Red had another good candidate in 2013 with Michael Byrne. Now a sophomore, the left-handed pitcher earned All-Ivy League Second Team honors after seeing a variety of roles last season. With 11 appearances, including three late-season starts, Byrne was 3-2 with a 1.09 ERA, two saves, and an impressive .160 opponents' batting average. Byrne didn't surrender an earned run through three appearances this season before Sacred Heart finally broke through against him March 22. He is currently 2-2 with a 1.56 ERA following his seven innings of shutout ball Saturday at Yale.
 
JONESIN' FOR A BREAKTHROUGH
Junior RHP Brent Jones generated quite a buzz during the offseason, throwing 96 mph during the team's Scout Day during the fall. Jones was later tabbed at the 95^th-best junior in college baseball, according to Perfect Game USA. He made nine appearances (seven starts) last season for the Big Red, posting a 4-1 record and 3.47 ERA. He is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and a team-best 30 strikeouts in 30 innings through a team-high six starts this season.
 
HORTON OR HOUDINI?
Sophomore LHP Matt Horton has proven to be quite the escape artist in his two years coming out of the Big Red bullpen. Horton, who notched his first save of the season Sunday at Brown, stranded all 10 runners he inherited during his freshman season. Just one of eight inherited runners have scored against Horton this season, giving him a success rate of 94.4 percent for stranding inherited runners over his collegiate career entering this weekend.
 
WELCOME ABOARD
Senior LHP Zach McCulley made himself right at home on the Big Red pitching staff last season after stops at William & Mary and three junior colleges. The 6-foot-5 lefty locked down a spot in the starting rotation for the Ivy League season and finished the season with a sparkling 1.70 ERA to go with a 4-2 record and just four extra-base hits surrendered in 42.1 innings of work.
 
NOT FAR REMOVED FROM A LITTLE HISTORY
Cornell still has plenty of pieces in place from a special 2012 season. 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 RHPs Connor Kaufmann and Kellen Urbon, who are both still with the team.
 
REMEMBER ME?
Despite missing half the season with an injury, senior RF Chris Cruz led the Big Red in home runs last season with four. But that number is hardly an indication of what the slugger is capable of. 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. He now owns the program's career record with 24 home runs after smashing three home runs last week. His five home runs are tied for team lead with junior 1B/OF Ryan Karl, and his 21 RBI are just one behind Karl's team-leading 22.
 
URBON LEGEND
Junior RHP Kellen Urbon made quite a statement in his 21 appearances as a freshman. He set a program record with nine saves, and his miniscule 0.47 earned-run average was the lowest ever recorded by a Cornell pitcher who had 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. Urbon missed the bulk of the 2013 season due to injury.
 
UNHITTABLE
Senior 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. He missed the bulk of the 2013 season due to injury.
 
UP NEXT
After 11 consecutive games on the road, the Big Red will return to Hoy Field for its final nine regular-season home games. The Hoy Field-heavy stretch begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday with a non-league doubleheader against Siena. Cornell then returns to league play next weekend with four games against defending Ivy champion Columbia.