WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The baseball team flies to the Sunshine State for the first time in five years when it plays four games in a three-day span against LIU-Brooklyn, Bowling Green, Maine and Huntington at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
 
RussMatt CENTRAL FLORIDA INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
Cornell Schedule
* 5 p.m. Friday — vs. LIU-Brooklyn (Chain of Lake Park Stadium; Winter Haven, Fla.)
* 10:15 a.m. Saturday — vs. Bowling Green (Lake Myrtle Sports Park; Auburndale, Fla.)
* 1:30 p.m. Saturday — vs. Maine (Lake Myrtle Sports Park; Auburndale, Fla.)
* 10 a.m. Sunday — vs. Huntington (Henley Field Ball Park; Lakeland, Fla.)
RECORDS: Cornell 1-5, LIU-Brooklyn 3-3, Bowling Green 3-6, Maine 4-12, Huntington 0-0
LIVE STATS (Bowling Green game only): BGSUfalcons.com
 
ABOUT THE BIG RED
Underlying Cornell's 1-5 record are four losses by one-run deficits — including a 5-4 affair against undefeated Virginia, one of the nation's top-ranked teams, in a game on March 1 in which the Big Red held the lead for seven innings. Senior RHP Brian McAfee was spectacular in the start, tossing seven scoreless innings and scattering seven hits without issuing any walks. No Virginia runners advanced past second base, and McAfee was fittingly named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week for his effort. Unfortunately for the Big Red, the Cavaliers scored four unearned runs in the eighth inning and the eventual winner in the ninth. … The Virginia game wrapped up a three-game weekend for Cornell at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Big Red was held hitless into the ninth inning during a 3-0 loss to Seton Hall last Friday, then it won its first game of the season on Saturday against Hartford, 4-3. Senior 1B Ryan Karl scored the winning run in the ninth inning, and senior LHP Nick Busto (1-0, 1.29) earned the victory after four innings of relief. … The Big Red opened the season with three one-run losses at Gardner-Webb, scoring just four runs over the series. … Senior RHP Kellen Urbon (0-0, 0.00) has yet to surrender an earned run in two starts, working 10 innings. He has nine walks and three walks over that span, and the opposition has forced two unearned runs across. … With a three-hit effort against Virginia, senior IF/OF Dan Morris has taken the team lead with a .353 batting average. The Big Red is batting .174 in the early going, but the team's pitching staff has a 1.64 earned-run average.
 
LOOKING BACK
Cornell was 18-21 overall and 9-11 in Ivy League play for the 2014 season. Karl was named an All-Ivy League First Team selection last year, which was his first with the Big Red since he transferred from Louisville (via Catawba Valley Community College). He led the team with a .280 average, nine home runs, 32 RBIs and a .552 slugging percentage. … Despite losing Brent Jones to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the MLB Draft last summer, the Big Red returns an extremely strong pitching staff, which has posted a sub-4.00 earned-run average in each of the last three seasons. Junior LHP Michael Byrne (0-2, 2.89) is a two-time All-Ivy Second Team pick, with a 3-4 record, 1.86 ERA and team-high 49 strikeouts last season. Urbon (2012 First Team), McAfee (2012 Second Team) and LHP Zach McCulley (2013 Honorable Mention) are other former All-Ivy picks.
 
THE HEAD COACH
In his seventh season as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball at Cornell University, Bill Walkenbach has 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 eighth season as a collegiate head coach, Walkenbach has a career record of 187-175-1 (.517).
 
ABOUT LIU-BROOKLYN
The Blackbirds are off to a 3-3 start after taking two of three a couple weeks ago at Savannah State and one of three last weekend at High Point. LIU-Brooklyn is scheduled to play three games in the RussMatt tournament before its matchup with Cornell on Friday. … Sophomore OF Tommy Jakubowski leads the team with a .500 average in 18 at-bats. His four RBIs are tied for the team lead with sophomore 1B/RHP Mark Hernandez, who batted north of .300 last season and has one of the Blackbirds' two home runs as of Monday. Junior C Vincent Tranchina has the other. … LIU-Brooklyn's pitchers have a 4.82 earned-run average through six games. Senior RHP Brian Drapeau (0-1, 4.72) and 6-foot-6 freshman LHP Cory Hart (0-0, 3.60) have each made two starts. Alex Trezza and his staff of three assistant coaches are all in their first seasons with the Blackbirds.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. LIU-BROOKLYN
The Big Red is 2-3 against the Blackbirds, with all five games on neutral fields in 1967 and 2008. Cornell won two of a three-game series March 27-29, 1967 at Marine Base Corps Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The Blackbirds won the opener, 3-2, before the Big Red struck back for victories of 6-5 and 7-3. LIU-Brooklyn then swept a quick two-game set March 20-21, 2008 at the Papa John's Palm Beach Classic, 14-12 and 14-9.
 
ABOUT BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons are 3-6 after being swept in last weekend's three-game series at Campbell. BGSU is also scheduled to play four games at the RussMatt tournament before its Saturday tilt with the Big Red. … Freshman 1B Randy Righter is batting .353 and has all three of the Falcons' home runs as of Monday, and his nine RBIs are tied for the team lead with sophomore C Trey Keegan and his .483 average and nine walks. Sophomore 3B Greg Basalyga is also batting at a noteworthy .344 clip. BGSU is active on the bases paths with 12 stolen bases over nine games, though it has also been caught stealing nine times. … The Falcons have a team earned-run average of 5.55 to date. Sophomore LHP Andrew Lacinak (1-1, 5.51), freshman RHP Zac Carey (0-2, 6.75) and senior RHP Trevor Blaylock (0-3, 8.27) have made three starts apiece. Junior RHP Devin Daugherty (1-0, 7.71) and sophomore RHP Tony Landi (0-0, 5.79) have each made four appearances out of the bullpen. … Danny Schmitz is in his 25th season as the head coach at Bowling Green, where he has racked up 640 career victories and seven Mid-American Conference championships.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. BOWLING GREEN
The Big Red has played the Falcons just once in the programs' histories, with BGSU coming away with a 12-2 victory on March 22, 1993 at Lakeland, Fla.
 
ABOUT MAINE
The Blackbears are off to a 4-12 start after being swept in a three-game series last weekend at Florida, which is ranked in the top five of the national polls. Maine, which has been in Florida since Feb. 27, is scheduled to play four games at the RussMatt tournament before Saturday's contest against Cornell. … Senior 3B Luke Morrill leads the team with a .421 average, which includes a home run and eight RBIs. Junior SS Shane Bussey is batting .348 with a pair of triples and 10 RBIs, which is tied for the team lead with junior 2B Brett Chappell. … Opponents have stolen 34 bases off the Black Bears and been caught just seven times over 16 games. … Senior LHP Scott Heath (2-1, 4.32), freshman RHP Justin Courtney (0-4, 4.58) and junior RHP Jake Marks (0-3, 10.91) are Maine's primary starters. Junior RHP Logan Fullmer (0-0, 3.21) has made seven relief appearances. … Steve Trimper is in his 10th season as Maine's head coach
 
ABOUT HUNTINGTON
The Foresters, an NAIA team in northeastern Indiana, are scheduled to open their season Wednesday before their RussMatt trip kicks off with Sunday's game against the Big Red. Huntington was 29-24 overall last season and 20-16 in the Crossroads League. … The team had a .295 batting average last season, led by sophomore C/OF T.J. Lindstrand's .375 average. Sophomore C Michael Crowley hit .336 with three home runs last season. Sophomore 1B/OF Shea Beauchamp hit .306 and led the team in doubles (12) and home runs (four). Sophomore INF Dylan Henricks had a team-leading 27 RBIs. … Two of the team's primary four starters return this season — Senior RHP Blake Hohlbein (5-4, 5.09) and junior RHP Brock Gower (2-3, 5.18). Sophomore LHP Drew McLochlin (2-3, 4.10) made 11 appearances, including three starts. … Mike Frame is in his 31st season as the head coach at Huntington. He has 722 career victories.
 
OPPORTUNISTIC WINAWER
Junior Jordan Winawer started the final 15 games at a corner outfield position for the Big Red – his first collegiate starts following an injury-washed 2013 season. To say Winawer made the most of his opportunity would be putting it lightly. He was the Big Red's best hitter over that stretch, leading the squad with a .436 batting average. For his efforts, he was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 15, 2014. He also had an eight-game hitting streak in April and later earned All-Ivy League Honorable Mention.
 
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 junior, the left-handed pitcher earned All-Ivy League Second Team honors in each of the last two seasons. He made 11 appearances as a sophomore, including three late-season starts, posting a 3-2 record with a 1.09 ERA, two saves, and an impressive .160 opponents' batting average. Byrne didn't surrender an earned run through his first three starts last season and eventually led the team with a 1.86 ERA and 49 strikeouts.
 
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. Three are still on the team — Kellen Urbon (unanimous First Team selection; Ivy Rookie of the Year), Brian McAfee (Second Team) and Kevin Tatum (Honorable Mention).
 
URBON LEGEND
Senior 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, then made seven appearances last season.
 
UP NEXT
The Big Red is scheduled to close out its stretch 14 consecutive games away from home to start the season next weekend, when it travels to Bucknell for a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22. Cornell is then scheduled to open the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday, March 24 against Albany at Hoy Field in advance of its Ivy League debut the following weekend against Yale and Brown.