Box Score (PDF)
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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The baseball team took advantage of two Hartford errors in the ninth inning to cap a rally for a 4-3 victory over the Hawks on Saturday at Griffith Field.
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With the game tied at 3 in the final frame, senior
Ryan Karl led off the inning by reaching first on a fielding error by the first baseman. A successful sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitting senior
Dan Morris pushed Karl to second base with one out, then freshman
Dale Wickham hit a ball that again eluded the Hawks' first baseman and allowed Karl to score and give Cornell (1-4) its first victory of the season.
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The Big Red trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, but got rolling with sophomore
Frankie Padulo's one-out infield hit to bring up the top of the order. Junior
Jordan Winawer stroked a double to right, advancing Padulo to third, then senior
Kevin Tatum hit a sacrifice fly to foul territory in right to drive in Padulo. Winawer alertly took third on the play, which proved pivotal when Hartford reliever Jeremy Charles uncorked a wild pitch and allowed Winawer to score the tying run.
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It was a Winawer's second run of the game, as he also gave the Big Red a 1-0 lead in the first. He drew a leadoff walk, then scored on senior
Spencer Scorza's double to right-center. Sophomore
Jacob Weston and freshman
Ellis Bitar also had doubles for the Big Red.
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But Hartford (2-3) took the lead in the top of the second. A pair of batters reached on separate errors on the infield, and both came around to score and give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. Senior
Kellen Urbon earned the no-decision in the start, yielding four hits, two unearned runs, two walks and five strikeouts. He stranded runners on third base in three of his five innings.
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Hartford pushed across another run in the senior
Nick Busto's first inning of relief, but Busto — who earned the win — settled down and worked consecutive 1-2-3 innings to set the stage for the Big Red rally. Busto then worked out of a jam in the ninth when the Hawks had runners on the corners with two out, recording the final out on a caught stealing.
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Cornell wraps up play at the weekend tournament at 10 a.m. Sunday against Virginia, the top-ranked team in the nation.
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