COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. – Senior John Natoli fanned seven over six innings while yielding no extra-base hits, and junior Nicholas Binnie hit a home run with two RBI in his first start of the season to pace the Cornell baseball team to its first victory of the season on Sunday. The Big Red won the series finale against Niagara, 6-5, at Shepherd Stadium.
 
Niagara (5-4) scratched out a run in the first inning against Natoli, but was silenced for the next five while Cornell (1-5) built a five-run lead entering the seventh. Binnie's solo home run to lead off the third tied the game, then junior Ramon Garza drove in the go-ahead run in a fourth inning that saw freshman Joe Hollerbach lead off with a double.
 
Hollerbach finished the day 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, just like freshman lead-off hitter and classmate Wils Guy. The latter hit a two-out double in the fifth, then scored on a base it by junior Kaleb Lepper to push the Big Red's lead to 3-1.
 
Cornell then batted around to plate three runs in the sixth, though it left three runners stranded. Though they felt like insurance runs and superfluous ducks on the pond at the time, Niagara would mount a late charge against Cornell's bullpen.
 
A leadoff walk and one-out double led to Niagara's second run in the seventh, then back-to-back base hits to lead off the ninth set the table for a late rally. Senior Seth Urbon was then summoned from the bullpen for the final three outs and his first collegiate save. A couple of singles plated three runs to bring the Purple Eagles' deficit to one, but Urbon induced a flyout to center to end the game with the potential tying run on first base.
 
The Big Red's early-season travels continue next weekend with a three-game set at South Carolina. The series starts at 7 p.m. Friday, with single games to follow on Saturday and Sunday from Columbia, S.C.
 
SATURDAY, GAME 1: NIAGARA 8, CORNELL 4
Hollerbach staked the Big Red to an early lead with the Big Red's first home run of the season, jacking a two-run shot in the first inning.
 
Benny Serrano pulled the Purple Eagles ahead with a three-run homer in the third, then Cole O'Connor hit a solo home run in the fourth to push the lead to 4-2. But the Big Red tied it up with two unearned runs in the bottom of the frame, thanks to a run-scoring single from freshman Shane Russell and a bases-loaded walk from Guy.

But instead of taking the lead back, the Big Red left the bases loaded. Niagara stormed back ahead with a two-run single from O'Connor in the fifth, then another run in the sixth padded the lead.
 
Cornell left three runners stranded again in the sixth, then never got a runner past first the rest of the way. Senior starter Colby Wyatt took the loss, fanning seven across 4.2 innings.
 
SATURDAY, GAME 2: NIAGARA 8, CORNELL 6
A five-run second inning gave the Purple Eagles control, with three of those runs coming unearned. Niagara scored three more in the sixth to build an eight-run lead, but Cornell would rally to keep the game interesting until the final out.
 
Niagara starter Jacob Bruning struck out 13 through six scoreless innings, but the Big Red lit up the Purple Eagles' bullpen to claw its way back into the game. Senior Matt Collins led off the seventh and eventually came around to score on senior Alex Carnegie's sacrifice fly to get the Big Red on the board.
 
With one swing, junior Ramon Garza got Cornell back in the game with no out in the eighth inning with a three-run homer. Collins then reached on an error and freshman Sam Kaplan drew a walk before both scored on Guy's two-run double with two out, cutting the Big Red's deficit to 8-6.
 
But that's where the rally would end. Junior Trevor Daniel Davis and senior Andrew Ellison induced Niagara's final 11 outs without yielded any more runs, but the Purple Eagles would ultimately hold on for the win.