Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ITHACA, N.Y. – Junior Brent Jones struck out six while tossing a complete game in the opener, then senior Chris Cruz was 3-for-5 with an RBI in the nightcap, but the baseball team dropped a pair of games to Columbia on Sunday, 2-0 and 8-4, at Hoy Field.
 
Columbia (21-15, 14-3 Ivy) swept Cornell (15-19, 6-10) in a four-game series for just the second time in the 22 seasons since the Ivy League adopted its current scheduling format. The Lions have now won 13 straight, while the Big Red has dropped eight in a row. It's Cornell's first eight-game losing streak since an 11-game skid in March 2009.
 
Cornell continues its home stand at 4 p.m. Tuesday with a non-league game against Binghamton at Hoy Field.
 
Game 1: COLUMBIA 2, CORNELL 0 | Box Score
A pitcher's duel kicked off the action for a second straight day, with the Lions once again emerging on top. Gus Craig did the damage with a two-run double down the left-field line in the second inning.
 
Jones was solid otherwise, throwing his second complete game of the season. He scattered six hits and walked one batter while fanning six. It was his fifth consecutive start of surrendering two or fewer earned runs.
 
Columbia's Kevin Roy was effectively wild in throwing a complete-game one-hitter. Senior Tom D'Alessandro had Cornell's only hit when he laced a double to left in the top of the third, but the Big Red had five other baserunners via walks (two) and hit-by-pitches (three). Just 50 of Roy's 89 pitches were strikes.
 
Cornell was shut out for a fourth consecutive game, which is the first time on record for the program.
 
Game 2: COLUMBIA 8, CORNELL 4 | Box Score
The Big Red ended a 32-inning scoring drought with three runs in the first inning, but couldn't make the lead stand up.
 
Batting leadoff for the first time, sophomore Jordan Winawer sparked the Big Red with a double in the bottom of the first inning. Junior JD Whetsel's sacrifice bunt moved Winawer to third, then Cruz drove him in with a single through the left side of the infield.
 
Cornell then received some good fortune when a potential inning-ending strikeout was negated by a passed ball, allowing Ryan Plantier to reach and Cruz advance to second. After junior Ryan Karl kept the inning going with an infield single, freshman Jamie Smith pulled a base hit through the hole on the right side to plate Cruz and extend the home side's lead to 2-0. Senior Ben Swinford then drew a four-pitch walk, allowing Plantier to score, and the Big Red was suddenly up by three.
 
But the Lions came back to tie the game in the third. Freshman Paul Balestrieri was the first of three relievers for the Big Red, escaping an inherited jam of runners at the corners with one out in the third.
 
Columbia eventually pulled ahead on David Vandercook's RBI ground-double in the fourth, then took a two-run lead on Gus Craig's solo homer to right to lead off the sixth.
 
The Big Red answered in the bottom half of the inning. Swinford drew a one-out walk, then moved to second on a groundout. Winawer came to the plate and lined a single into center, scoring Swinford to cut the Big Red's deficit back to one. Winawer was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI in the game.
 
The Lions then put the game out of reach with two more runs in the seventh and another in the eighth.