Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ITHACA, N.Y. – Sophomore Michael Byrne had another stellar start, but the baseball team's bats were silenced again Saturday in a pair of shutout losses to Columbia at Hoy Field. The Lions eked out a 1-0 victory in the opener, then sprinted away with a 8-0 decision in the nightcap.
 
Cornell (15-17, 6-8 Ivy League) has lost six consecutive games and is now out of contention in the Lou Gehrig Division pennant race. The Big Red offense hasn't produced a run in its last 25 innings. It's the first time the program has suffered three consecutive shutout losses since early in the 1986 season, when it lost to Point Loma Nazarene, 1-0, and twice to Oregon State, 12-0 and 5-0.
 
Cornell and Columbia (19-5, 12-3) will wrap up their series with another noon doubleheader Sunday at Hoy Field.
 
Game 1: COLUMBIA 1, CORNELL 0 | Box Score
Byrne was the hard-luck loser after a two-hit complete game, sullied only by a run in the fourth inning. He tied his career-high with eight strikeouts in the game, going the distance for the first time in his collegiate career.
 
Byrne set the red-hot Lions, who pushed their winning streak to 11 games, down in order through the first three innings before yielding a lead-off walk to Jordan Serena in the fourth. Will Savage then advanced Serena to second with a sacrifice bunt. Byrne fanned the next batter for the second out, but Robb Paller followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield to drive in Serena for the game's only run.
 
Columbia had just three men on the base the rest of the game, but held on for the victory behind a three-hit shutout from David Speer. The lefty had seven strikeouts without issuing a walk.
 
Senior Ben Swinford had the Big Red's first hit with two out in the third, but was quickly erased on an inning-ending fielder's choice. Senior Tom D'Alessandro then led off the fourth with a single up the middle. After stealing second base, he was caught trying to steal third.
 
Sophomore Jordan Winawer had the Big Red's other hit, extending his hitting streak to eight games. That streak later ended in the second game.
 
Game 2: COLUMBIA 8, CORNELL 0 | Box Score
The Big Red had much more activity on the base paths in the second tilt, but still couldn't push across a run while stranding nine runners on base.
 
A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and All-Ivy League First Team pick as one of the nation's most dominant closers in 2012, junior Kellen Urbon made his first collegiate start. He last five innings, surrendering four runs (three earned), but he was also the victim of a few defensive miscues and some soft hits.
 
Savage scored the Lions' first run in the first inning after being credited with a double after hesitation from two outfielders allowed the ball to drop. Nick Maguire then scored Columbia's second run after leading off the second with a double, created when a diving attempt at a bloop hit caromed away from the defense and allowed Maguire to take an extra base. Maguire later scored on a cue-shot base hit from Gus Craig, which squirted through the left side of the infield.
 
Cornell actually came close to knocking Columbia starter George Thanopoulos out of the game in the early, with Thomas Crispi warming in the bullpen while the Big Red drew four walks in the first three innings. But Thanopoulos got a swinging strikeout to strand the bases loaded in the second inning, then induced a groundball double play to end a threat in the third.
 
The Big Red had five hits in the game, with just JD Whetsel's double going for extra bases.