ITHACA, N.Y. — After winning its home opener 7-5 over Dartmouth, the Cornell baseball team emphatically swept its doubleheader against the Big Green by mashing a program-record seven home runs in a 17-2 triumph at Booth Field on Saturday afternoon.
Cornell (4-11, 3-2 Ivy League) is off to its best five-game start in Ancient Eight play since the 2015 season when it started 4-1. Dartmouth fell to 6-11 overall and 2-3 in Ivy League play following its pair of setbacks.
GAME ONE RECAP
Senior catcher
Nathan Waugh's second-inning grand slam capped a string of six unanswered runs for Cornell in its 7-5 victory over Dartmouth in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader from Booth Field.
Fellow senior first baseman
Braden Mack drove in Cornell's first run on a two-out RBI single in the first inning. Junior infielder
Max Jensen set up Waugh's round-tripper after drawing a bases-loaded hit by a pitch.
Dartmouth retaliated with five unanswered runs over the span of the third to sixth innings to trim Cornell's lead to 6-5. The first Big Green run came on a wild pitch thrown by sophomore right-handed pitcher
Carson Mayfield with the bases loaded. An infield single by Ethan Brown plated another Dartmouth tally before Max Zajec drove in a pair on a flared base hit into left-center field.
An RBI single by junior designated hitter
Kyle Musser gave Cornell a two-run lead in the seventh before junior right-handed pitchers
Chris Ellison and
Ryan Porter shut down Dartmouth's hitters by not allowing a hit over the final two innings of play.
Mayfield earned his second victory of the season after allowing four runs on eight hits in his five-inning outing. Porter notched his first save of the season.
Marco Dumsky was the losing pitcher of record for Dartmouth after yielding six runs (five earned) on four hits in four-plus innings on the mound.
GAME TWO RECAP
Freshman catcher
Mark Quatrani went 3-for-5 with two home runs and six RBI as the Big Red registed a 17-2 victory to ensure the doubleheader sweep.
Quatrani became the first Big Red player with a multi-home run game since Will Simoneit on April 28, 2019, and became the first Big Red player since Ellis Bitar on April 21, 2018, to have a six-RBI game. Both of the previous instances came in Ivy League contests against Penn.
The two-home run game for Quatrani was the first on record by a freshman player since Gary Kaczor hit two home runs against Temple in the NCAA Tournament on May 28, 1977, in Middletown, Conn.
Joining Quatrani in combining to establish the program's single-game home run record — besting a five-home run performance against James Madison on March 15, 2014 — was junior left fielder
John Quinlan, senior first baseman
Braden Mack, senior second baseman
Matt Barnhorst, freshman shortstop
Kevin Hager, and junior center fielder
Jakobi Davis.
The home runs for Mack and Hager were their first collegiate round-trippers. Mack's was one of two grand slams in the nightcap with Quatrani registered the other one, giving Cornell four grand slams in its last three games.
Cornell opened the game by scoring the first seven runs over the first two innings, highlighted by Mack's first-inning grand slam. In the second, Quinlan logged an RBI single and sophomore right fielder
Caden Wildman singled home a pair of runs.
Dartmouth plated two runs in the top of the fourth on a bases-loaded walk and on a wild pitch by
Noah Keller, Cornell's sophomore left-handed starting pitcher.
Cornell concluded the game by plating 10 unanswered runs over the final five innings, including Quatrani, Barnhorst, and Hager homered in successive at-bats in the fifth to put the Big Red ahead 13-2. It was the first time the Big Red hit home runs in three consecutive at-bats since Chris Cruz (3-run), Spencer Scorza, and Ryan Karl against James Madison on March 15, 2014.
An RBI single by Quatrani in the sixth was his fifth RBI of the day before Davis and Quinlan combined to hit successive home runs in the seventh. Quatrani capped his successful day at the plate with a solo home run in the eighth inning.
Senior right-handed pitcher
Von Baker recorded the first victory of his collegiate career after pitching 1.1 scoreless innings of relief for Keller, who finished the day allowing two runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings. Freshman left-handed pitcher
Nathaniel Jennewein and sophomore southpaw
John Gerfen, who made his season debut, also held Dartmouth off the scoreboard out of the bullpen.
Devin Milberg saw his day end early after giving up seven runs on six hits over the first 1.1 innings.
GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the 189th and 190th meetings between the Ivy League programs. Cornell's record against Dartmouth now stands at 88-101-1, and has won four of its last five against the Big Green.
• The 17 runs by Cornell were the most against Dartmouth in program history, besting its 14-run output in Hanover, N.H., in a 14-12 win on May 2, 2009.
• Cornell posted its most runs in a game since defeating Niagara, 17-5, in the opening game of a doubleheader on March 25, 2018, at Hoy Field.
• Waugh recorded a base hit in the first game giving the senior a 19-game hit streak, dating back to last season, but was held without a hit in the nightcap. Davis extended his on-base streak to 19 games and Jensen increased his on-base streak to 12 games.
• The two grand slams in the second game was the first time Cornell had multiple grand slams in a game since defeating Towson, 27-14, on April 5, 2017, when Will Simoneit and Tommy Wagner each cleared the bases with home runs.
• Cornell's four grand slams this year are the most by the program in a season since also recording four in 2017 (Simoneit — twice, Wagner and Ellis Bitar — once).
• Following its pair of wins, Cornell has its first three-game winning streak since compiling five straight wins from April 27 - May 4, 2019. The Big Red defeated Penn (April 27 and 28) and Dartmouth (May 4 doubleheader) twice and also took a midweek contest from Binghamton (May 1).
UP NEXT
Cornell will go the series sweep on Easter Sunday at Booth Field with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. Sophomore right-hander
Ethan Hamill (1-1, 5.85 ERA) is slated to take the ball for the Big Red and will counter Dartmouth right-hander Eddie Albert (1-0, 0.60 ERA). Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.
