PHILADELPHIA – Senior Ellis Bitar hit three home runs and had the baseball team's first six-RBI game in more than 11 years, helping Cornell split of Saturday's Ivy League doubleheader at Penn. The Big Red held on for a 10-9 victory in the opener, but the Quakers pulled ahead late for a 9-5 win in the night cap at Meiklejohn Stadium.
 
Junior Dale Wickham also had home runs in each game and now has 10 hits over the last four games for Cornell (7-17-1, 3-8 Ivy League). The teams are scheduled to wrap up the series with the rubber game at 1 p.m. Sunday.
 
Game 1: CORNELL 10, PENN 9
The Big Red exploded for a season-high 17 hits, plating multiple runs in four of the first six innings. That included two home runs for Bitar, who also had a three-run double in the first inning en route to a 4-for-5 game.
 
Wickham and junior Josh Arndt also hit home runs for the Big Red, which had four round-trippers for the first time since April 5, 2017.
 
The sixth inning saw fireworks after the umpires lost track of the count on Arndt. On the fourth ball thrown to him, Arndt and the two runners aboard start to jog forward one base. But the call on the field was ball three, and the Penn catcher threw out the lead runner at third base. After the ensuing confusion and lengthy delay for arguments from both benches, Arndt blasted the very next pitch for a two-run homer over the wall in right to push the score to 10-3.
 
The insurance turned out to be vital. Senior Tim Willittes earned the victory with seven innings of work and six strikeouts, and sophomore Colby Wyatt worked a quiet eighth inning before a nearly disastrous ninth. Penn (11-20-1, 5-7-1) started its final at-bat with three doubles and its first two walks of the game, then Matt McGeagh hit a three-run homer to pull the Quakers back to within a single run – all before the first out.
 
Cornell then called on sophomore Andrew Ellison to put on the fire. After a walk and a two-out single, he got a called third strike for the final out and his first collegiate save.
 
Game 2: PENN 9, CORNELL 5
The Quakers plated four runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull away and salvage a split.
 
Cornell jumped in front in the second inning with Bitar's lead-off home run over the batter's eye in center field. Coming off an outing that fell just one out shy of a complete game, sophomore starter Seth Urbon continued his form the first two times through the Penn order – though Matt O'Neill hit a solo homer in the fifth to tie the score at 1.
 
The sixth is where the Quakers pulled ahead. A double was followed by a pair of singles to plate the go-ahead run, then Peter Matt's three-run homer chased Urbon and appeared to blow the game open at 5-1.
 
But the Big Red battled back. Sophomore Matt Collins worked a lead-off walk in the seventh, then freshman Ramon Garza pulled a single into left to put two on with one out. Senior Ryan Krainz poked a double over third base to drive in Collins and move Garza to third. Senior Kyle Gallagher's groundout plated Garza, then Wickham's two-run homer to right tied the score at 5.
 
Penn led off the eighth with back-to-back doubles to pull ahead for good.