ORLANDO, Fla. — Coming off a pair of series wins at Wofford and Bucknell, the baseball team will face another formidable test this weekend when it travels to Orlando, Fla. for a three-game series at UCF.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Cornell at UCF
FORMAT: All games nine innings
SITE: Jay Bergman Field — Orlando, Fla.
RECORDS: Cornell 6-4, UCF 12-11
SERIES RECORD: UCF leads, 7-1
VIDEO: www.ucfknights.com
STATS: www.ucfknights.com
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Probable starters
GAME 1: 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 25   •   Cornell (RHP — Paul Balestrieri, 0-2, 6.32)   •   UCF (RHP Cre Finfrock, 1-1, 2.65)
GAME 2: 4 p.m., Saturday, March 26  •   Cornell (RHP — Tim Willittes, 2-1, 3.38)   •   UCF (RHP Robby Howell, 4-0, 0.79)
GAME 3: 1 p.m., Sunday, March 27   •   Cornell (RHP — Peter Lannoo, 1-1, 3.38)   •   UCF (TBA)

Cornell notes (PDF)
UCF notes (PDF)
 
About the Big Red:
In its first season under head coach Dan Pepicelli, Cornell has won five of its last six games as it starts the campaign with 15 consecutive games away from home. After missing the 2015 season with an injury and enduring a rough start to begin the season, junior RHP Tim Willittes (2-1, 3.37) has delivered a pair of stellar starts to earn consecutive Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors. Sophomore LHP Justin Lewis (2-0, 1.64, 2 SV) leads the team with six relief appearances. ... Sophomore Dale Wickham leads the team with a .342 average and .405 on-base percentage. Junior Cole Rutherford leads the squad with four home runs, two triples and 11 RBIs and .771 slugging percentage in his first 10 games since transferring to Cornell. He was the Ivy League Player of the Week after stroking three home runs in the series at Wofford.
 
It's In The Past:
Cornell was 13-27 overall and 9-11 in the Ivy League last season. Underlying the overall record was a 5-14 record in one-run games. … In 2012, the Big Red won the program's first league title since 1977 and its first Ivy league title since the circuit began sponsoring baseball 20 years prior.
 
Breaking Down The Bucknell Series:
Cornell won three of four games last weekend at Bucknell, highlighted by an extra-inning victory in the opener and a gem from junior pitcher Tim Willittes in the third game. Freshman Josh Arndt hit a two-run double in the top of the 11th to spur the Big Red to an 8-6 victory on Friday. He led the team with four RBIs in the series. The Bison plated 10 runs in the third inning of a 12-3 rout in Game 2 to open Saturday's doubleheader, then Willittes came through with clutch outing to save the rest of the Big Red's bullpen arms. Willittes worked eight scoreless innings, yielding just three hits and striking out 13 to power Cornell to a 5-2 victory in the night cap. Cornell then won the series with a 3-2 triumph on Sunday. Sophomore Dale Wickham hit a two-run homer, junior Peter Lannoo won his first collegiate start, and sophomore Justin Lewis recorded a one-out save, stranding the tying and winning runs in scoring position.
 
About UCF:
The Knights enter this weekend with a 12-11 record after a pair of midweek losses at 10th-ranked Florida State. UCF took two of three games against visiting Brown last weekend and have swept its other two non-league three-game home series against Siena (Feb. 19-21) and LIU-Brooklyn (March 11-13). ... Junior Eli Putnam leads the team with a .333 average and .431 on-base percentage. Junior Brennan Bozeman is batting .301 and ranks second with 16 RBIs. Junior Austin Griffin leads the squad with seven doubles, seven home runs, 28 RBIs and a .621 slugging percentage. ... UCF's pitching staff has a strong 1-2 punch in sophomore RHP Cre Finfrock (1-1, 2.65) and junior RHP Robby Howell (4-0, 0.79), who are in line to start the first two games of this weekend's series. Omit those two, and the rest of the Knights' pitchers have a 6.80 ERA. Senior LHP Harrison Hukari (1-2, 5.95, 2 SV)leads the team with 15 relief apperances and has half of the team's saves.
 
Series History vs. UCF:
The Knights have won seven straight games against Cornell since the Big Red won the first game played between the programs, 7-5, on March 16, 1980. All eight of the series' games have been played in Orlando. Most recently, UCF swept a three-game series March 18-19, 2000.
 
Power Surge:
It took the Big Red all 40 games of the 2015 season to hit six home runs, but it took just the day of March 12 to produce seven homers this season. Six of those blasts came in the second game of a doubleheader at Wofford, which set a single-game program record. Junior Cole Rutherford had two home runs in that game, plus one in the twin bill's opener.  Cornell is one of just 35 teams across the country to average one home run per game.
 
Byrne Notice:
Senior LHP Michael Byrne surrendered just one earned run in his first two starts this season, looking to regain his form from the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He has twice earned All-Ivy League accolades, garnering second-team honors in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. Though he struggled to an inflated ERA last season, he still led the team with 45 strikeouts. Cornell has two other returning All-Ivy winners — both senior OF Jordan Winawer (2014) and junior 3B Tommy Wagner (2015) have garnered honorable mention.
 
For Starters ...:
Of Cornell's 40 games last season, just 11 were started by pitchers who return to the team this season. Senior LHP Michael Byrne has eight of those, while the other three were late-season outings by junior RHP Paul Balestrieri. The New Jersey product has made the full-time transition to the rotation after primarily serving as one of the team's best late-inning options over his first two years on East Hill. Junior RHP Tim Willittes is also in the starting ranks after missing the entirety of the 2015 season with an injury.
 
By The Numbers:
• Cornell ranks 10th in the country in strikeouts per game (9.8).
• Junior Cole Rutherford ranks 11th in the country and first in the Ivy League in home runs per game (0.40), and 19th in the country and first in the Ivy League in slugging percentage (.771).
• Junior Tim Willittes ranks first in the Ivy League in strikeouts (27) and first in the Ivy League and 12th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (13.02).
• The Big Red added junior RHP Austin Wahl to the roster this week. He will wear
No. 11.
 
Up Next:
Cornell wraps up its second trip through Florida with a games Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at Rollins before returning to Ithaca for the start of Ivy League play. The Big Red opens with a noon doubleheader against visiting Harvard on Saturday, April 2, then plays two more against Dartmouth at noon Sunday, April 3.