ITHACA, N.Y. – The baseball team will play its final home non-league game of the season when it plays host to Binghamton at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Hoy Field.

GAME INFORMATION
Binghamton at Cornell
DATE: Tuesday, April 22
TIME: 4 p.m.
SITE: Hoy Field – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 15-19 (6-10 Ivy League); Binghamton 12-19 (6-8 America East)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 19-13
LAST MEETING: Binghamton won, 7-0, last Thursday in Ithaca, N.Y.
WEBCAST: Ivy League Digital Network
AUDIO: Ivy League Digital Network
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
In the sixth game of an eight-game home stand, the Big Red will be looking to snap an eight-game losing streak. The team hit just .188 in five games last week, including four shutout consecutive losses. The first of those games actually came against Binghamton last Thursday, then defending Ivy League champion Columbia earned a four-game sweep over the weekend at Hoy Field. Sophomore Michael Byrne and junior Brent Jones were hard-luck losers in the first game of the doubleheaders, both pitching complete games and surrendering a combined three runs. The Lions won the second game, 8-0, before the Big Red found some offense in an 8-4 loss in the series finale Sunday. Senior RF Chris Cruz was 3-for-5 with an RBI, and sophomore LF Jordan Winawer made the most of his first appearance at the leadoff hitter in Sunday's second game. He was 2-for-5 with an RBI and scored the game's first run. … Junior CF JD Whetsel leads the team with a .272 average, hitting leadoff in all but one of the Big Red's 34 games to date. He had an 11-game hitting streak broken earlier this month and leads the team with 20 walks and 14 stolen bases, one ahead of senior SS Tom D'Alessandro's 13. Whetsel has reached base safely in 32 of 34 games this season … Senior 1B Ryan Plantier is also hitting .272 (though he is technically eight hundredths of point behind Whetsel). … Junior 1B/OF Ryan Karl leads the team with six home runs, 25 RBI and .504 slugging percentage. … Junior C Matt Hall is batting .266 with just six strikeouts in 86 plate appearances. He is also the Big Red's leading hitter in Ivy play with a .324 average. … The Big Red's pitching staff has a strong 3.71 earned run average. The staff posted a 3.13 ERA last season, which was the best the program had seen since its 2.25 ERA in 1973. … Despite being four games under .500, the Big Red has actually lost just three of its 10 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 before losing three of four to Penn in its first divisional weekend. Columbia then handed Cornell a four-game sweep last weekend.
 
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 183-167-1 (.523).
 
ABOUT BINGHAMTON
The Bearcats have won three of their last four games to snap a five-game losing streak. After defeating the Big Red last Thursday, Binghamton went on the win two of three over the weekend against Maine in an America East series. … Senior CF Bill Bereszniewicz is the only player to start all 31 of the team's games, leading the way with a .344 average, 25 runs, three triples and 13 stolen bases. His seven doubles are also tied for second on the team behind senior 2B Daniel Nevares' eight. … Junior LF Jake Thomas is surging offensively, now batting .311 with six of the team's eight home runs and a team-high 25 RBI. He had two home runs and six RBIs in the Bearcats' series finale vs. Maine this weekend. … Junior RHP Jack Rogalla (3-5, 2.37, CG), sophomore RHP Jake Cryts (3-4, 3.91, CG) and junior RHP Mike Urbanski (3-1, 4.72) comprise the Bearcats' weekend rotation, so they are unlikely to face the Big Red this week. Freshman RHP Casey Wenzel (1-2, 3.60) has started three games this season – including last Thursday's game against the Big Red. Junior LHP Mike Kaufman (1-1, 6.57), junior LHP Mike Meleski (0-1, 16.20) and freshman RHP/1B Jextin Pugh (0-1, 3.32) have also started one game apiece this season. Pugh and junior RHP Greg Ostner (0-1, 3.00) are tied for the team lead with 12 appearances out of the bullpen. Ostner and sophomore RHP/OF Mike Bunal (1-2, 4.41) have two saves apiece.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. BINGHAMTON
Cornell holds a 19-13 lead in the all-time series after splitting the first two meetings between the squads this season. The Big Red won, 6-1, on April 9 at Varsity Field. The game was tied at 1 before junior Kevin Tatum drove in the go-ahead run for the Big Red in the eighth inning, then Cornell tacked on four insurance runs in the ninth. None of the Big Red's seven pitchers threw more than two innings, combining on 11 strikeouts. Sophomore Matt Horton earned the victory with a quiet 1.2 innings of work before junior Kellen Urbon closed it out. Binghamton responded with a 7-0 victory in a last-minute addition to the schedule last Thursday at Hoy Field. The teams first met in 1984, with the Big Red sweeping a doubleheader at Vestal, N.Y.
 
OPPORTUNISTIC WINAWER
Sophomore Jordan Winawer has started the last 10 games at a corner outfield position for the Big Red – his first collegiate starts following an injury-washed 2013 season. To say Winawer has made the most of his opportunity is putting it lightly. He has been the Big Red's best hitter in each of the last two weeks, going 15-for-34 with two doubles, seven runs scored, and five RBIs. For his efforts, he was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 15. He is the first Cornell player to earn the honor since Michael Byrne did so last April – also following a four-game series against Penn. Winawer had an eight-game hitting streak snapped over the weekend.
 
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, 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 second on the team with 13 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 leads the way with 14 stolen bases after leading the team with 19 last season en route to All-Ivy Second Team honors. Whetsel has reached base in 32 of 34 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 3-3 with a 1.32 ERA following his complete game Saturday vs. Columbia. Byrne's 0.70 ERA in Ivy games ranks second behind Yale's Chris Lanham (0.32).
 
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 2-3 with a 2.76 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 42.1 innings through a team-high eight starts this season. His 1.88 ERA in Ivy games ranks 10th in the league.
 
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 April 6 at Brown, stranded all 10 runners he inherited during his freshman season. Just two of 10 inherited runners have scored against Horton this season, giving him a success rate of 90 percent for stranding inherited runners over his collegiate career.
 
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 earlier this month. His five home runs rank second on the team behind six from junior 1B/OF Ryan Karl, and Cruz's 23 RBI are just three behind Karl's team-leading 25.
 
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
The Big Red will wrap up the home portion of its schedule with a noon doubleheader against Princeton on Friday. The series then moves to Princeton for the final two games at noon Sunday before Cornell concludes its season with a non-league doubleheader at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Canisius.