ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell baseball team returns to action this weekend when it takes on Ball State, Purdue Fort Wayne, and No. 5-ranked Wake Forest at David F. Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Series Information

VS. BALL STATE (4-4) - FRIDAY, MARCH 3 - 10 A.M.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP: LHP Noah Keller (0-1, 18.00 ERA) vs. RHP Casey Bargo (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
LIVE VIDEO: None
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast

VS. PURDUE FORT WAYNE (1-7) - SATURDAY, MARCH 4 - 4 P.M.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Ethan Hamill (0-1, 12.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Myer (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
LIVE VIDEO: None
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast

AT #5 WAKE FOREST (10-0) - SUNDAY, MARCH 5 - 1 P.M.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Von Baker (0-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. LHP Josh Hartle (2-0, 0.82 ERA)
SERIES RECORD: 10th all-time meeting - Wake Forest leads, 9-0
LIVE VIDEO: ACCNX
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast

Last Weekend Rewind

Cornell was swept in its three-game series with James Madison last weekend in Harrisonburg, Va.

Junior catcher Nathan Waugh batted a team-best .333 (3-of-9) with a home run and two RBI. Sophomore outfielder Jakobi Davis, junior infielders Matt Barnhorst and Ryan Ross, and freshman infielder TJ Swidorski all hit home runs for the Big Red.

Fellow junior Von Baker had a stellar start on the mound last Sunday for the Big Red, logging 5.2 innings of work while allowing four hits and one run in his outing. He walked three batters and matched his career high for strikeouts (6) in the outing.

Nice to Meet You

With its meetings against Ball State on Friday and Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, it will be the first time Cornell is playing both programs in its 152-year history.

Friday morning's contest against the Cardinals will mark the first time Cornell is playing a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) since 2015 when the Big Red played Bowling Green in Auburndale, Fla., at the RussMatt Invitational.

It's been a while since Cornell played a member from the Horizon League, as its last contest came against Milwaukee, also at a neutral site, in Homestead, Fla., on March 16, 2002.

Bye, Bye, Baseball!

Cornell hit five home runs last weekend in its season-opening series at James Madison. It is the most homers hit by the Big Red in a series since hitting six against Dartmouth last year on April 23-24.

The five home runs in the season-opening series are the most on record dating back to the 2003 season. It is the quickest Cornell has reached five homers in a season in that span (previous: eight HRs in five games in 2016). 

Walk This Way!

Through games completed on Tuesday, junior catcher Nathan Waugh was tied with 14 other players for the 24th-highest walks per game average (1.33).

Waugh's average is tied with Yale's Jimmy Chatfield for the Ivy League lead, as both players have drawn four walks over their three contests.

Fresh(man) Arms

Freshman left-handed pitcher Noah Keller made some Cornell history with his season-opening start last Friday at James Madison.

Keller became the first freshman pitcher to start the Big Red's season opener since right-hander Corey Pappel did so against Siena on Feb. 29, 2008, at the Virginia Invitational.

The first-year southpaw hurler also became the first Big Red left-handed pitcher to start the Big Red's season-opening contest since Zach McCulley against Navy on March 1, 2014.

Fellow freshman right-handed pitcher Ethan Hamill also made his first collegiate start last weekend at James Madison. Keller and Hamill became the first Cornell freshman pitcher to start in the first weekend of a series since left-hander Spencer Edwards did so against No. 16-ranked Duke in 2020.

Seeing Doubles

Sophomore outfielder Jakobi Davis already has a pair of doubles to his credit so far this season and his 0.67 doubles per game average is tied for the 28th-highest in the Division I ranks and is second among Ivy League players, trailing Brown's Derian Morphew (0.75).

It's Been 73 Years...

Sunday's contest against Wake Forest will mark the first time the two programs are meeting on the baseball diamond in nearly 74 years.

The contest will be the 10th all-time meeting between the two programs, and the first since March 31, 1949 when the Big Red fell, 7-3, to the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest has won all nine previous meetings against Cornell — all of which have come in Winston-Salem.

Cornell previously played Wake Forest in single-games in 1937, 1938, 1940, and 1947. The two programs also played a pair of two-game series in 1939 and 1949. 

Sunday's contest will be the fourth time in the last five seasons that Cornell will be playing an ACC school. The Big Red played Virginia and Maryland last season and Duke in 2020 and 2018. A victory on Sunday would give Cornell its first win over an ACC school since defeating Virginia Tech on March 14, 2003 in Blacksburg, Va.