NEW YORK — The baseball team had leads in both of its games Saturday at Columbia, but ultimately couldn't hold on to either of them in 4-3 and 9-8 losses at Robertson Field.
 
Senior Spencer Scorza scored two of the Big Red's three runs in the opener, then drove in three runs in the night cap.
 
Twelve of the Big Red's 23 losses this season have come by one run. Saturday's losses have eliminated Cornell (9-23, 6-8 Ivy League) from Ivy League contention. The Big Red will conclude its series at Columbia will another doubleheader starting at noon Sunday.
 
Game 1: COLUMBIA 4, CORNELL 3 (Box Score)
The Big Red held the lead twice before the Lions surged ahead for good on a two-run home run by Joe Falcone in the sixth inning.
 
Sophomore Tommy Wagner was 2-for-3 for the Big Red, including a base hit on an 11-pitch at-bat with the game tied at 2 in the top of the sixth inning. That moved Scorza to second base with one out, and he came in to score the go-ahead run on senior Ryan Karl's single through the right side of the infield.
 
Columbia starter George Thanapoulos then induced a double play to keep the Big Red from tacking on, which turned out to be pivotal after the Lions' Joe Falcone hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to put Columbia ahead for good.
 
Cornell struck first in the second inning with aggressive base-running. Scorza and Wagner executed a double steal on a strikeout, but the Lions' throw to third base was muffed and allowed Scorza to come home. The Big Red stretched the lead to 2-0 in the third when senior Dan Morris plated classmate JD Whetsel with a second-inning triple.
 
Nick Maguire got Columbia on the board with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the third. The Lions tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when a bunt single led to throwing error, and a runner from first base came all the way around to score.
 
Senior Brian McAfee worked a complete game, but took the loss. He surrendered four runs (three earned) over six innings, striking out five.
 
Game 2: COLUMBIA 9, CORNELL 8 (Box Score)
The Big Red had two five-run leads, then couldn't hold on to a two-run in the final frame. Gus Craig hit two home runs for Columbia, including one in the home side's three-run ninth inning to end the game on Jordan Serena's walk-off walk with the bases loaded.
 
Cornell used a five-run first inning to give sophomore Paul Balestrieri a nice cushion with which to work in his first start of the season. Morris scored Whetsel with an RBI single, then Scorza scored Morris and senior Kevin Tatum with a two-run double to make the score 3-0 before Columbia starter Adam Cline recorded an out. Karl then drove his first home run of the season to right field, also scoring Scorza.
 
Columbia chipped away at its deficit with runs in the second and fourth innings, but Cornell restored its five-run lead while chasing Cline in the fifth. Whetsel led off with a single, stole second and then scored on Tatum's double to right. Scorza followed with a double down the line in left to score Tatum.  
 
The Lions worked a pair of two-out walks in the fifth inning, then back-to-back home runs by Craig and Dave Vandercook cut the Big Red's lead to 7-6.
 
Senior Eric Upton came out of the bullpen and ended the threat and silenced the Lions until the ninth inning. He took the loss, fanning three over 3.2 innings.
 
Cornell's final run came in the eighth inning after Wagner led off with a double, then scored on an error on Karl's single to right.