ITHACA, N.Y. — The baseball team returns to the Mid-Atlantic for its first three games against a Patriot League foe when it visits Navy. The Big Red will be looking for its first victories of the season after being swept in three-game series on the road against VCU and nationally-ranked Baylor to start the season.
 

SERIES INFORMATION

Cornell at Navy
SITE: Bishop Stadium — Annapolis, Md.
RECORDS: Cornell 0-6, Navy 6-6
SERIES RECORDS: Navy leads, 49-32
STATS: NavySports.com
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Probable starters
Game 1 • 11 a.m. Saturday, March 9
   Cornell (Yacinich, RHP, 0-0, 28.93)   •   Navy (Song, RHP, 1-0, 0.00)
Game 2 • ~2 p.m. Saturday, March 9
   Cornell (Wyatt, RHP, 0-1, 2.53)   •   Navy (Leins, RHP, 0-0, 4.72)
Game 3 • Noon Sunday, March 10
   Cornell (Urbon, RHP, 0-2, 10.12)   •   Navy (Ayers, LHP, 0-2, 9.00)

Cornell game notes (PDF)
Navy game notes (PDF)
 

VCU Series Redux:

•   On the whole, Cornell pitching took a step forward over the three-game series with the Rams — who were just coming off a victory over sixth-ranked North Carolina. Juniors Seth Urbon and Colby Wyatt both surrendered just one run in five innings 
during their starts, though Urbon was ultimately tagged with two more after his departure in the sixth inning of Friday's 6-1 loss.
•   Saturday's doubleheader featured just a total of three hits for the Big Red, which lost the games 2-0 and 9-3. Sophomore Kalani Matton had two of those hits, and classmate Nicholas Binnie drove in all three of Cornell's runs with a bases-clearing double in the second inning of the nightcap.
 

The Big Red, In Brief:

•   Cornell was 14-24-1 overall last season with a 9-12 record in the Ivy League, which placed the Big Red sixth in the final Ancient Eight standings and four games out of the Ivy League Championship series. The Big Red won three of its last four Ivy League series of the season.
•   Dan Pepicelli returns for his fourth season as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball. He has a 49-69-1 record at the helm, including a 21-17 record in 2016 that marked the program's fourth winning season since 1991.
•   The Big Red roster is fairly young, featuring 12 freshmen against just four seniors. Cornell returns four starting bats, one pitcher from its weekend rotation, and four of its five best bullpen arms from last year.
•   Associate Head Coach Tom Ford returns for his 27th season with the Big Red, while Frank Hager '12 remains assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in his fourth season.
•   This season marks the 150th year of baseball at Cornell, as it continues to be the oldest varsity sport at the university.
 

On Offense:

•   Having faced top-tier pitching over the first six games, the Big Red is batting just .127 as a team after two weeks.
•   Sophomore Ramon Garza got off to a strong start at Baylor, going 5-for-11 with a pair of doubles and a stolen base. A native Texan, Garza enjoyed success in his only appearance in his home state last year, too — his first collegiate at-bat was a double at Texas A&M.
•   Senior Will Simoneit joins Garza with a team-best .238 average. He's hit the only the team's only home run, which came at Baylor and earned him a spot on the Ivy League weekly honor roll. Simoneit eclipsed the .300 mark for a second straight year in 2018, ranking second on the team with a .308 average and seven stolen bases.
•   Freshman Justin Taylor batted leadoff in all six games to date, including an impressive four-walk game in the second game at Baylor. He is the Big Red's sixth different Opening Day shortstop over the last six years.
•   The Big Red ranked sixth in the Ivy League with a team batting average of .248 last year. Cornell led the circuit with 47 stolen bases, ranked second in fewest strikeouts (303), and was third in walks (169).
 

On The Mound:

•   Freshman Luke Yacinich (0-1, 28.93) is aligned to start the series opener. His start last Sunday at VCU marked the first time in Dan Pepicelli's four years at the helm of the Big Red that a freshman started a weekend game.
•   Junior Colby Wyatt (0-1, 2.53) has transitioned to the rotation after leading the Big Red in relief appearance last season. He had 28 strikeouts in 24.2 innings last year, then made his first start since 2017 last Saturday at VCU.
•   Junior Seth Urbon (0-2, 10.12) returns to the weekend rotation after becoming a fixture there last year following two relief appearances to open the season. He wrapped up his debut season with the Big Red with a 2-2 record and 5.37 ERA. The transfer from Georgia Tech is the younger brother of Kellen Urbon '15, who was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2012.
•   In relief, Cornell brings in several freshman arms to complement some key incumbent bullpen pieces — led by juniors Andrew Ellison (2-5, 2.03, 2 SV in 2018) and Jeb Bemiss (2-2, 6.16, SV in 2018), and senior Adam Saks (1-0, 4.80 in 2018).
 

Honor Roll:

•   Cornell placed five on the All-Ivy League teams last season, but just senior Will Simoneit returns from that group. Simoneit was placed on the All-Ivy Second Team for a second straight year, with the unique distinction of garnering those honors from different positions — catcher in 2017; third base in 2018.
 

About Navy:

•   The Midshipmen (6-6) have won four straight, plating 41 runs over that stretch. Most recently, Navy pounded out 17 hits on Thursday to defeat UMBC, 13-4.
•   Liam Lowery leads the team's regulars with a .317 average and nine RBI, and he has one of the team's three home runs to date. The other two have come from Jacob Williamson.
•   Michael Coritz (.313) and Christian Hodge (.311) both had three hits against the Retrievers to give the Mids three batters with averages better than .300.
•   Navy pitchers are off to a hot start with a 3.41 team ERA. Senior RHP Noah Song (1-0, 0.00), slated to start Saturday's first game, is the staff ace with no runs allowed through 18.1 innings and a gaudy 36 strikeouts. He's was an All-Patriot League first-teamer last year and was a 2016 Lousiville Slugger Freshman All-American.
•   Underclassmen are slated to start the other two games against the Big Red — RHP Jared Leins (0-0, 4.72) in Saturday's nightcap and LHP Wilson Ayers (0-2, 9.00) in the series finale on Sunday.
•   The Mids were 38-16 last year and won a fourth straight Patriot League regular-season title, but they were topped in the tournament finals by Army West Point.
 

Series History vs. Navy:

•   Once league rivals in the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League before the Ivy League added baseball to its repertoire, Cornell and Navy have met 81 times in their programs' histories.
•   The Midshipmen hold a 49-32 advantage, though the Big Red took two of three games in the last series between the teams, both in Annapolis in 2014 and 2017.
 

Up Next:

•   Cornell's last non-league weekend will be a March 16-17 trip to Towson, Md. Matinees against host Towson both days will be preceded by a neutral-site contest against Fordham on the first day.
•   The Big Red then starts its Ivy League schedule on the road against the top two teams from the circuit last year — the championship series titlist Columbia (March 23-24) and regular-season champion Yale (March 30-31).