CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Cornell baseball team's offense was primed in its first action since the 2020 season, but a manageable three-run deficit halfway through Friday's season debut at Virginia devolved into a 24-9 victory for the Cavaliers at Davenport Field. 

Junior Wils Guy batted leadoff and was 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the second inning that brought the Big Red to within 4-3 against the 2021 College World Series qualifier. Sophomore Shane Russell added a two-run single in the fifth inning to make the score 10-7 before Virginia (5-0) pulled away with 14 runs over its final four innings at the plate.

Junior Joe Hollerbach and sophomore Braden Mack were both 2-for-4 for the Big Red, while graduate student Jason Apostle scored a pair of runs from the two-hole. 

The teams meet for the middle game of the three-game set at noon Saturday.