NEW YORK – The baseball team's bats came alive on Sunday, pounding out 24 hits in a doubleheader split against defending Ivy League Championship Series champion Columbia at Robertson Field. Cornell held on to win the first contest, 4-3, before the Lions responded with a 13-8 triumph in the rubber game of the three-game series.
 
Cornell (4-11, 1-2 Ivy League) averaged just 6.3 hits per contest through its first 10 games of the season, but it had 12 in each end of Sunday's twin bill – though Columbia (5-11, 2-1) escaped with a win in the series with its own outburst in the finale.
 
The Big Red resumes its challenging start to the league slate with three games Saturday and Sunday at Yale, which shared the Ivy League title last season with Columbia.
 

Game 1: CORNELL 4, COLUMBIA 3 (Box Score)

Senior Josh Arndt and junior Matt Collins both hit triples, then freshman Austin Flematti delivered a two-run single in the breakthrough fifth for Cornell. The Big Red then loaded the bases in both the eighth and ninth innings, but it couldn't stretch its lead further.
 
Thanks to a standout relief appearance from junior John Natoli, Cornell wouldn't need to. He inherited runners on corners with one out in the sixth inning, and a sacrifice fly brought home the runner on third to cut the Big Red's lead to one run. But Natoli escaped the jam and dominated the rest of the game. He fanned eight in just 3.2 innings of work, striking out the side in both the eighth and ninth innings. It was his first collegiate save.
 
Freshman Luke Yacinich earned his first collegiate victory in relief after classmate Johnathan Zacharias started off with four innings of work.
 
Flematti was 2-for-4 with two RBI after coming off the bench early in the game. The bottom of the order also game through, with juniors Alex Carnegie and Nicholas Binnie both going 2-for-3 from the Nos. 8 and 9 holes, respectively.
 
The second game of the doubleheader was due to start around 2:55 p.m.
 

Game 2: COLUMBIA 13, CORNELL 8 (Box Score)

The teams traded crooked numbers through four frames before the Lions blew the game open with six runs in the sixth to expand their lead to 13-6.
 
The Big Red smacked six doubles and had five batters with multiple hits. Arndt led that group, going 2-for-3 with a pair of two-baggers, three RBI and a stolen base. His first double drove in a pair with two-out in the first inning to give Cornell an early 2-0 lead.
 
After the Lions tied it up, Carnegie scored on a wild pitch and Flematti's RBI double restored the Big Red's two-run lead and chased Columbia starter Jordan Chriss after just 1.2 innings. Again, Columbia would equalize – and, again, Cornell would plate two more in the next frame. Arndt's second double led off the third, and freshman Justin Taylor followed with his own double to drive in Arndt. After a balk, Carnegie's base hit to center drove in Taylor, who finished the game 2-for-3 with the aforementioned double, a stolen base and a pair of walks.