CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior Jeb Bemiss pitched 7.2 scoreless innings in just his second weekend start of the year, and junior John Natoli slammed the door by striking out the only four batters he faced to help the Cornell baseball team to a one-hit 2-0 blanking of Ivy League-leading Harvard on Sunday afternoon at O'Donnell Field.
 
Bemiss struck out eight while yielding just a pair of walks and a single on a chopper up the middle in the third inning. He fell behind in a count 2-0 just once before his final inning of work, and he retired 15 consecutive batters until a two-out strikeout in the eighth actually resulted in a baserunner after the third strike went all the way to the backstop.
 
That led Dan Pepicelli, the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball, to summon his closer from the bullpen. Facing the potential go-ahead run, Natoli worked his way back from a 3-1 hole and got a swinging third strike.
 
The bottom of the ninth brought back up the top of the order for Harvard (18-8, 8-4 Ivy League). Natoli overpowered the first two batters, bringing up the nation's leading hitter and Ivy League home run leader Patrick McColl. After the Crimson challenged if Natoli was putting a foreign substance on the ball – a charge of which he was absolved after an umpire checked the brim of his cap – the Big Red's closer blew a fastball by McColl for the third strike and the end of a Cornell (8-19, 3-9) six-game losing streak.
 
While the base paths were bereft of the Crimson most of the day, the Big Red had runners on most of the day. Junior Matt Collins led Cornell's attack, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles down the line in left. The second came with two out and one on in the fourth, but the game stayed scoreless when Harvard threw out the runner trying to score at home plate.
 
The Big Red kept the bats lively in its next at-bat in the fifth. Sophomore Jason Apostle led off with an opposite-field double into the gap, then freshman Justin Taylor served an 0-2 pitch into center to put runners on the corners with no out. Senior Adam Saks laced the next pitch through the left side, driving in Apostle to give Cornell a 1-0 lead.
 
That forced Harvard starter Ian Miller out of the game, but senior Josh Arndt greeted reliever Harrison Stovern with more of the same. His single to right loaded the bases. After an infield fly for the first out, sophomore Ramon Garza worked an RBI walk to plate Taylor and double Cornell's lead.
 
That turned out to be more than enough support for Bemiss, who lowered his ERA from 8.15 to 5.68 in just the one day. His eight strikeouts matched a career high set in his previous start, a 4-1 win April 3 at Army West Point in which he tossed 5.2 scoreless frames.
 
Sunday's game was Cornell's first one-hitter since its season finale in 2017, when it routed Princeton, 13-1, behind 7.2 innings from Paul Balestrieri '17 in his last collegiate appearance.
 
The Big Red returns home for its next two Ivy League series, starting with three games April 20-21 against Princeton at Hoy Field in Ithaca, New York.