ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell baseball team will play its third road Ivy League series in the circuit's first four weeks when it travels to greater Boston for a three-game set against league-leading Harvard.
 

SERIES INFORMATION

Cornell at Harvard
SITE: O'Donnell Field — Cambridge, Mass.
RECORDS: Cornell 7-17, 2-7 Ivy League;
                    Harvard 16-7; 6-3 Ivy League
SERIES RECORD: Harvard leads, 106-53
VIDEO: ESPN+ | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
STATS: GoCrimson.com | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
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Probable starters
Game 1 • Noon Saturday, April 13
   Cornell (Wyatt, RHP, 2-3, 2.21)   •   Harvard (Bigge, RHP, 3-1, 5.45)
Game 2 • ~3 p.m. Saturday, April 13
   Cornell (Zacharias, RHP, 0-2, 2.19)   •   Harvard (Hayward, RHP, 3-1, 5.05)
Game 3 • Noon Sunday, April 14
   Cornell (Bemiss, RHP, 1-1, 8.15)   •   Harvard (Miller, RHP, 2-1, 6.52)

Cornell game notes (PDF)
 

The Week That Was:

•   Cornell has lost its last four games, most recently suffering an 8-4 loss against Binghamton in a non-league contest on Tuesday in Ithaca. The Bearcats came out swinging with five hits in the first inning, then posted a four-run third inning.
•   Austin Flematti had an RBI double, Ramon Garza was 2-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases, and Matt Collins had a pair of base hits. The Big Red bullpened the game, with six of its seven pitchers not yielding any earned runs. 
 

Brown Series Redux:

•   Cornell was swept by Brown last weekend, even though the Bears only outhit the Big Red, 27-25, over a three-game Ivy League series. Brown took advantage of eight unearned runs and quality pitching out of the stretch to sweep the series. For the weekend, the Big Red batters were 17-for-50 (.340) with the bases empty over the three games against just 8-for-50 (.160) with runners on base.
•   Alex Carnegie launched a three-run home run in the ninth inning of Saturday's first  game, but Brown had already built a big lead en route to an 11-3 victory.
•   Jonathan Zacharias fanned a season-high seven in his fourth collegiate start, but the Bears manufactured a run in the first inning and stayed in control behind a gem from starting pitcher Collin Garner.
•   The Big Red stole seven bases in Sunday's series finale, but a late surge came up short in a 7-3 loss. Will Simoneit was 3-for-3 with a pair of steals.
 

The Big Red, In Brief:

•   Dan Pepicelli returns for his fourth season as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball. He has a 56-80-1 record at the helm.
•   This season marks the 150th year of baseball at Cornell, as it continues to be the oldest varsity sport at the university.
 

On Offense:

•   Cornell's bats are continuing their upward trend, having now averaged 9.18 hits per game over the last 11 contests after averaging just 4.85 over its first 13 games. Over the last 11, the team is batting .272 with 23 doubles, it's matching its opponents in slugging percentage (.361), and it has five players batting .293 or better.
•   Senior Adam Saks boasts a .326 average, having taken over the everyday role in center field while primarily batting leadoff. After spending his first three years on East Hill exclusively deployed as a pitcher, Saks has reached base safely in all 12 of his starts.
•   Another converted pitcher is patrolling the outfield in sophomore Nicholas Binnie, who owns a .279 batting average.
•   Senior Will Simoneit (.276) has two of the team's three home runs to date, having topped .300 in each of the last two seasons.
•   Senior Josh Arndt and freshman Austin Flematti are tied for the team with 10 RBI apiece, with all five of Arndt's doubles coming over the last nine games.
•   Sophomore Ramon Garza has a team-high seven doubles and has reached safely in his last eight games. He's a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen-base attempts, which ranks second on the team to junior Matt Collins (7-for-7).
 

On The Mound:

•   The Big Red's Saturday starters are currently ranked 1 and 2 among qualifying Ivy League pitchers in earned run average. Junior Colby Wyatt (2-3, 2.21) is coming off a rare hiccup against Brown, having yielded just four runs (three earned) across his first five starts. He has transitioned to the rotation after leading the Big Red in relief appearances last season.
•   Freshman Jonathan Zacharias (0-2, 2.19) is aligned for his fifth collegiate start, though he hasn't pitched beyond the fifth inning in the first four. He joined classmate Luke Yacinich (2-4, 11.64) in becoming the first freshmen to make weekend starts in Dan Pepicelli's four years at the helm.
•   Junior Jeb Bemiss (1-1, 8.15) is scheduled to make his third start of the season. He's yielded just one run while fanning 14 over 10 innings during his last three outings.
•   In relief, junior John Natoli (2-1, 2.08, 3 SV) has been a force with 27 strikeouts in 21.2 innings, and junior Andrew Ellison (0-0, 1.98, SV) has returned to the back end after a delayed start to his season.
 

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 Harvard:

•   The Crimson sit in a three-way atop the Ivy League standings with a 6-3 record in conference games and a 16-7 record overall.
•   Harvard won two of three against Yale at home last weekend in a series with plenty of late-game fireworks. In the first game last Saturday, Harvard scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth innings — capped by a Patrick McColl grand slam — to rally for an improbable 10-8 victory. After the Crimson won the second game, 3-0, it was Yale's turn to steal a game late. The Bulldogs plated three runs in the ninth inning for an 8-7 victory to avoid being swept.
•   As a team, Harvard is batting .296, has a 5.33 earned run average and .959 fielding percentage. Bill Decker, an Ithaca College graduate, is in his seventh season at the helm.
•   Patrick McColl leads the Ivy League with a .459 average, eight home runs and .867 slugging percentage. Jake Suddleson ranks second in home runs (seven) and slugging (.682), and he is fifth with a .364 average. They both have 31 RBI.
•   The Crimson uses a steady rotation of righties, Hunter Bigge (3-1, 5.45), Buddy Hayward (3-1, 5.05) and Ian Miller (2-1, 6.52).
•   Out of the bullpen, Kieran Shaw (0-1, 2.77, 10 SV) is far and away the Ivy League leader in saves. Enzo Stefanoni (3-1, 3.54) is tied for the team lead in victories despite making all nine of his appearances in relief, and John McLean (1-0, 3.12) and Harrison Stovern (0-0, 4.15) are two effective left-handed options.
 

Series History vs. Harvard:

•   Harvard holds a 106-53 lead in the all-time series, but Cornell has won nine of the last 14 games between the programs — including two of three games in last season's series at Hoy Field in Ithaca.
•   Jason Apostle drove in three runs as the Big Red rallied from a four-run hole against the Ivy League's leader in wins, ERA and strikeouts in the opener for a 10-8 win.
•   Harvard took another 4-0 lead in the nightcap, but Cornell struck for seven in the fourth inning and Seth Urbon finish his seven-inning start with five scoreless frames to earn the victory in a 7-4 decision. Ramon Garza was 2-for-4 with a double.
•   The Crimson avoided being swept with a 6-2 victory in the last game.
 

Up Next:

•   Cornell returns home for its next two Ivy League series, hosting Princeton from April 20-21 and Penn from April 27-28. Between those games is a non-league contest on Tuesday, April 23 at Binghamton.