| Probable Starting Pitchers |
| Day |
Cornell |
Penn |
| Sat. 11:30 a.m. ET |
LHP Noah Keller (0-2, 3.97 ERA) |
TBA |
| Sat. 2:30 p.m. ET |
LHP Huxley Holcombe (1-2, 6.65 ERA) |
TBA |
| Sun. 12 p.m. ET |
RHP Ethan Hamill (2-1, 4.36 ERA) |
TBA |
ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell baseball team returns to the road for the first time since March 22-23 when it travels to Philadelphia to take on Ivy League preseason favorite Penn at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium in a three-game series.
Entering this weekend, Cornell is two games back of Columbia for first place in the Ivy League standings with its 6-3 conference record. The Big Red also owns a one-game advantage over Penn and Princeton, who are tied for third place with identical 5-4 records.
OFF TO A GOOD START
• Following the first three weekends of Ivy League play, Cornell has a 6-3 record against Ancient Eight opponents, which includes the Big Red having a 6-1 mark over its previous seven contests.
• Since the disbandment of the EIBL following the 1992 season, Cornell has registered six-plus wins over its first nine Ivy League games three other times when it went 9-1 in 2012, and 6-3 in both 2014 and 2024.
• With one win this weekend over Penn, Cornell will have at least seven victories in its first 12 conference games for just the third time in the Ivy League era, joining the teams from 1998 (7-5) and 2012 (10-2). It would also be the 16th instance in program history since 1930 that it has had seven-plus wins in its first 12 conference games (1934, 1939, 1941, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1998, 2012).
• Should Cornell post two victories this weekend, it would be the second time under the Ivy League's direction and the 11th instance since 1930 — when the Big Red joined the EIBL — that it has posted a record of 8-4 or better in its first 12 conference games. The other instances came in 1939 (9-3), 1941 (8-4), 1971 (8-4), 1972 (8-4), 1973 (8-4), 1977 (10-2), 1978 (8-4), 1980 (8-4), 1982 (8-4), and 2012 (10-2).
• A sweep of Penn this weekend would be the fourth time Cornell has won at least nine conference games in its first 12 games, joining the 1939 (9-3), 1977 (10-2), and 2012 (10-2) squads.
WEEKEND REWIND
• Cornell posted its second consecutive series victory over Harvard for the first time since sweeping doubleheaders in 1994 (Ithaca) and 1995 (Cambridge), as the Big Red went 2-1 against the Crimson at Booth Field last weekend to conclude a six-game homestand.
• Freshman catcher
Mark Quatrani batted a team-best .444 (4-for-9) with a double, home run, and three RBI, while posting a 1.472 OPS. Junior outfielder
John Quinlan (.429 — 6-for-14), sophomore outfielder
Caden Wildman (.417 — 5-for-12) and senior catcher
Nathan Waugh (.400 — 4-for-10) all had batting averages of at least .400 on the weekend.
• Left-handed pitcher
Huxley Holcombe shined on the mound in relief for Cornell, allowing just two baserunners (one hit, one walk) over five shutout innings of work to earn his first collegiate victory and receiving Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Week honors.
LOVING THE LONG BALL
• Having hit a home run in each of its last 12 games, Cornell enters this weekend riding the fourth-longest active streak of consecutive games with a home run by a Division I program.
• The Big Red enters the weekend as one of six Division I programs with a home run streak of at least 10 games, joining Austin Peay (20 games), Utah Valley (17 games), Oregon State (13 games), Bowling Green (10 games), and Kentucky (10 games).
• Cornell has already hit 27 home runs this season, tied with the 2002 squad for the 10th-most round-trippers in a single season in program history.
• With three more home runs, it would signify the third consecutive season Cornell has reached the 30-home run plateau, which would mark the first time in program history that the Big Red registered 30-plus home runs in three consecutive seasons, as it had consecutive 30-home run seasons in 2001-02 and 2009-10.
AVOIDING THE LONG BALL
• Cornell has not allowed a home run in its last six games and its last 58 innings pitched, dating back to its last road game against Princeton on March 24.
• The last time Cornell had gone six-plus games without allowing a home run was in 2019 when it went 10 straight games without conceding a round-tripper during a span from March 1 to March 23 (89.1 IP).
FINDING THEIR GROOVES
• Since allowing seven runs (four earned) against Georgetown on March 10, sophomore left-handed pitcher
Noah Keller has posted a 2.08 ERA in his last four outings (three starts) over 17.1 IP, yielding 19 hits and seven runs allowed (four earned), while walking eight batters and striking out 18 (9.35 SO/9).
• Keller currently has a 4.67 FIP (fielding independent pitching — similar to ERA, but focuses on events a pitcher has most control over, including SO, BB, HBP, and HR) among Ivy League pitchers, trailing Princeton's Jacob Faulkner (3.86) and Yale's Reid Easterly (3.95).
• After giving up 14 runs on 18 hits in 8.1 IP across his first three career outings (15.12 ERA and 3.12 WHIP), freshman left-handed pitcher
Huxley Holcombe has yielded just two runs against on seven hits over last 13 IP, leading to a 1374-point improvement in ERA (1.38) and 227-point decrease in WHIP (0.85) ... during last four outings, has allowed a maximum of three hits and conceded one run twice.
TOUGH TO TOUCH
• Freshman left-handed pitcher
Huxley Holcombe enters this weekend holding opponents to a .129 batting average over the first three weekends of Ivy League play. Holcombe's .129 figure is 24 points better than Columbia's Joe Sheets (.153), and is one of eight Ivy League pitchers with a batting average against under .200, also joined by Harvard's Callan Fang (.162), Penn's Cole Zaffiro (.175), Yale's Daniel Cohen (.188), Princeton's Justin Kim (.188), Columbia's Will Parkinson (.189), and Yale's Colton Shaw (.191).
• Sophomore right-handed pitcher
Ethan Hamill has shined over his four starts this season, fashioning a 3.00 ERA (8 ER in 24 IP) while holding opponents to a .230 batting average.
• Hamill's .262 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is third in the Ivy League, trailing Princeton's Justin Kim (.224) and Columbia's Derek Yoo (.238).
GETTING ON BASE
• Senior catcher
Nathan Waugh enters this weekend riding a 24-game on-base streak that dates back to last season.
• Waugh has a .326/.411/.547 slash line during his 24-game on-base streak, as the senior catcher had a 19-game hit streak snapped in the opening game of a March 30 doubleheader against Dartmouth. During his on-base streak, Waugh has recorded six doubles, five home runs, and driven in 26 runs.
IMPROVING IN ALL FACETS
• Since being swept in its doubleheader against Georgetown on March 10, Cornell has improved in numerous statistical categories on both sides of the baseball.
• Over its last 12 games, Cornell has improved its batting average by 80 points, batting .306 with 90 runs scored (7.50 runs per game) and 24 home runs (2.00 home runs per game). The Big Red has seen a 196-point increase in slugging percentage (.521) and a 259-point improvement in OPS (.906).
• Cornell has a 6-4 record over its last 12 games, including winning five of its previous six contests. After having an 11.08 ERA over its first eight games, the Big Red has logged a 4.77 ERA over its last 12 contests, a 631-point decrease. Cornell's walks-per-9-innings have decreased by 466 points (4.34), its strikeouts-per-9-inning is up 104 points (7.41) and opponents are hitting .251, down 86 points from its .337 average in the opening eight contests.
Q'S PROVIDING THE A'S
• Junior outfielder
John Quinlan and freshman catcher
Mark Quatrani have been two of Cornell's most reliable hitters in Ivy League play this season.
• Quinlan is hitting a team-leading .415 (17-for-41) in Ivy play, trailing Penn's Wyatt Henseler (.419) for the conference lead in batting average, while Quinlan's 17 hits are one more than Harvard's George Cooper for the most by an Ancient Eight player in conference play.
• Quatrani has hit five home runs in Ivy play, tied with Henseler for the most in conference action, while his RBI (15) are one more than Columbia freshman infielder Eric Jeon (14).
• Both Quatrani (1.414) and Quinlan (1.052) have OPS figures north of 1.000, making them two of Cornell's three hitters with 1.000 against Ivy League opponents, joined by junior infielder
Max Jensen (1.087).
SCOUTING PENN
• Penn enters this weekend with an overall record of 13-15 and a 5-4 mark in Ivy League play. The Quakers have lost its last two games, dropping a 12-3 decision to Yale last Sunday and falling to Villanova, 5-3, on Wednesday in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
• The Quakers pace the Ivy League in batting average (.288), hits (272), triples (8), on-base percentage (.389), and strikeouts-per-9-innings (10.20).
• Wyatt Henseler leads the Quakers in multiple batting categories, including runs (32), home runs (14), RBI (33), total bases (87), on-base percentage (.444), and slugging percentage (.806). Henseler's home run total leads the Ivy League and ranks 23rd nationally. He also enters the weekend four hits shy of becoming Penn's third player to have 200 career hits.
• In the Quakers' loss to Villanova on Wednesday, Henseler became the Ivy League's career leader in RBI, notching his 165th and 166th RBIs on a two-run home run in the sixth inning. Henseler currently assumes the Ivy League lead in career home runs (46) and RBI (166).
• Cole Zaffiro (3-3, 4.91 ERA) has been a key cog in Penn's starting rotation this season, recording 46 strikeouts over his 36.2 innings on the mound. His 11.29 strikeouts-per-9-innings figure ranks second among Ivy League hurlers, trailing Harvard's Callan Fang (12.25). Ryan Dromboski (0-4, 10.99 ERA), like Zaffiro, has started in all seven of his appearances this season.
135 YEARS, 230 MILES, 292 MEETINGS
• Cornell and Penn have met 292 times prior to this weekend's three-game series. The Quakers own the series lead, 164-127-2, and have won five of the last six contests.
• The Big Red are seeking its first series victory over the Quakers since 2019 at Hoy Field, and its first series victory on Penn's home turf since 2018.
• Last year, Penn took two of three from Cornell in the second-ever series played at Booth Field. In the Big Red's lone victory of the series, a five-run eighth inning aided Cornell in shifting a 7-6 deficit into an 11-7 lead.
Max Jensen and
Nathan Waugh had RBI singles before
Sam Kaplan hit a three-run home run. Penn tried to stage a ninth-inning comeback behind an RBI single by Pokrovsky and a run coming on a bases-loaded fielder's choice, but
Ryan Porter slammed the door by getting a fly out and a strikeout to conclude the contest.
