Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
ITHACA, N.Y. — Hoy Field is where the runs are for the baseball team. The Big Red blitzed Yale for 17 runs on Sunday in a doubleheader that opened Ivy League play for both teams, fueling Cornell to victories by the scores of 10-1 and 7-5. It marked the first time since 1982 that the Big Red has swept Yale in Ithaca.
 
Senior pitcher Brian McAfee turned in another terrific outing in the opener for Cornell (5-11, 2-0 Ivy League), strengthening his position as a professional prospect with a complete-game victory to whittle his earned-run average to 1.16 for the season. He issued no walks for the fourth time among his five starts this season.
 
Senior Dan Morris drove in five runs between the two games, and he joined senior Kevin Tatum and sophomore Tommy Wagner with four hits on the day. Senior Ryan Karl had hits in both games to push his hitting streak to five games, and Tatum has a six-game hitting streak and two hits apiece in seven of his last 10 games.
 
Yale (6-8, 0-2) finished last season tied for the Ivy League Red Rolfe Division crown before having its season ended by a loss to Dartmouth in the tiebreaker.
 
Cornell returns to action at noon Monday with another Ivy League interdivision doubleheader against Brown at Hoy Field.
 
Game 1: CORNELL 10, YALE 1 (Box Score)
The Big Red took the lead with three runs in the fourth inning, then blew the game open by sending 11 men to the plate for seven runs in the sixth.
 
The lone run surrendered by McAfee came on a fly ball that was midjudged in the outfield. A last-ditch attempt to make a diving catch led to the ball bouncing away into no-man's land, and David Toups came all the way around to score on an inside-the-park home run and give Yale a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
 
But McAfee was virtually untouchable the rest of the way, finishing with seven strikeouts with no walks over seven innings. After Yale scored its run, McAfee surrendered just three singles. Twenty-five of the 27 outs he recorded were via strikeout or groundout.
 
Junior Jordan Winawer hit a one-out infield single behind second base in the fourth, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tatum followed with a single to right and advanced to second on a throw home that wasn't in time to prevent Winawer from scoring to tie the game.
 
After Yale got the second out, a bizarre sequence followed in which Tatum advanced to third while the Bulldogs were attempting to intentionally walk dangerous senior lefty Ryan Karl. That brought Wagner to the plate with runners on the corners, and he drove in the go-ahead run with a single through the left side of the infield. Morris followed with another base hit on the ground to left field, scoring Karl and giving Cornell a 3-1 lead.
 
It was the only inning among the first five that Yale starter Chris Moates faced more than the minimum, but the Big Red broke the game open in the sixth. Karl hit a two-run double and scored on Morris' single to right-center. Sophomore Frankie Padulo and senior JD Whetsel, making his season debut, both drew run-scoring walks.
 
Game 2: CORNELL 7, YALE 5 (Box Score)
The Big Red scored four runs in the seventh inning on an impressive two-out rally to help reliever Eric Upton earn his first victory of the season after three effective innings of work.
 
Tatum started the surge with a single up the middle, then senior Spencer Scorza was hit by Yale starter Chris Lanham's first offering in the next at-bat. After Karl drew a walk to load the bases, Wagner stroked a base hit to center field that easily scored Tatum. Scorza rounded third and the throw home appeared to beat him, but his slide kicked the ball loose from catcher Andrew Herrera's glove and allowed him to score the tying run. Morris followed with a double deep down the right-field line, scoring Karl and Wagner to give Cornell a 7-5 lead.
 
Upton set down the Bulldogs in order in his third and final inning of work, then sophomore closer Paul Balestrieri worked an eventful ninth inning. After Yale pieced together a pair of two-out hits to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, Balestrieri induced a game-ending flyout from Toups to earn his third save of the season.
 
Yale threatened to open the scoring in the second inning with a runner on third and one out, but Wagner made a diving catch on a soft liner up the middle from his post at second base to save a run. Yale eventually pulled ahead with a run in the top of third, but Cornell quickly countered to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame with Morris scoring on a fielder's choice from Whetsel.
 
Cornell took the lead in the fourth inning after Scorza drew a leadoff walk, then Karl and Wagner followed by jumping on Lanham's first pitch to smack singles into center field. Wagner's knock scored Scorza for the go-ahead run, while moving Karl up to third. Morris followed with a sacrifice fly to center, giving Cornell a 3-1 lead before Yale stormed back with three runs in the fifth before Cornell's winning rally late.