PHILADELPHIA — Sophomore outfielder
Caden Wildman's historic offensive performance helped the Cornell baseball team earn a split of its doubleheader with Penn at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Wildman officially became the first Cornell player in the 153-year history of Cornell baseball to hit multiple grand slams in the same game as his performance aided the Big Red (9-13, 7-4 Ivy League) to an 18-11 victory over Penn (14-16, 6-5 Ivy League) in the nightcap after falling in the opener, 6-5.
Wildman's eight RBI are tied with Columbia's Jack Cooper for the most by an Ivy League player this season. Cooper went 4-for-4 with a double, two home runs, and eight RBI in the Lions' 15-3 win over Marist on March 1.
GAME ONE RECAP
A stretch of six unanswered runs from the second to fourth innings cut a four-run deficit into a two-run lead for Penn as the Quakers took the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader 6-5.
Jarrett Pokrovsky was one of four Quakers hitters with two-hit days while driving in a team-leading three runs. Wyatt Henseler (2-for-4, two runs, home run), Ryan Taylor (2-for-3, two runs, double), and Carson Ozmer (2-for-4, RBI) were the others with multiple hits for Penn.
Cole Zaffiro earned his fourth victory of the season after pitching the first five innings. He gave up four runs on six hits, walked three, and struck out five. Ozmer, who started the game as the Quakers' designated hitter, logged his fourth save of the season after pitching the final three innings for Penn.
Junior third baseman
Max Jensen (2-for-5), freshman designated hitter
Mark Quatrani (2-for-5, double, three RBI), and sophomore shortstop
TJ Swidorski (2-for-4) all had two-hit days for Cornell in the setback.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher
Noah Keller was the losing pitcher after yielding five runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out a pair in his three-inning outing. Senior right-handed pitcher
Von Baker logged five quality innings of relief, giving up one run — on a solo homer by Henseler — while scattering four hits, issuing two walks, and striking out one.
Cornell gave Keller some breathing room before he touched the mound as the Big Red plated four runs in the top of the first behind an RBI single by senior first baseman
Braden Mack, a two-run double by Quatrani, and an RBI groundout by senior second baseman
Matt Barnhorst.
With bringing 10 batters to the plate in the first inning, Cornell forced Penn starting pitcher Cole Zaffiro to throw 46 first-inning pitches.
Penn plated six unanswered runs between the second and fourth innings, highlighted by its four-run third inning. Pokrovsky capped the Quakers' four-run inning with a two-run single with the bases loaded. Henseler blasted his 15th home run of the season in the fourth to extend Penn's lead to 6-4.
Finding the scoring column for the first time since the first inning, Quatrani hit a one-out RBI single in the seventh to cut the Big Red's deficit in half, 6-5.
After logging three hits against Ozmer in his first inning of relief, the Big Red could not solve the right-handed sidearmer as five of the final eight outs of the game came via punchout. Cornell had its chances to tie the game as it had the tying run on base at least once over the final three innings.
GAME TWO RECAP
Wildman's memorable and historic day at the plate helped Cornell prevent Penn from registering the doubleheader sweep, as it posted an 18-11 victory over the Quakers.
The sophomore outfielder went 3-for-6 at the plate, hitting two grand slams and driving in eight Cornell runs.
It is Cornell's second multi-home run game of the season, as freshman
Mark Quatrani did so in the second game of a March 30 doubleheader against Dartmouth. No Cornell team has had multiple multi-home run games in the same season since 2016 (Dale Wickham — the program's lone three-home run game — and Cole Rutherford).
Joining Wildman in guiding Cornell's offense to victory was junior outfielder
John Quinlan, who logged his second four-hit game of the season, going 4-for-5 with a triple, two RBI, and crossed home plate on four occasions. Jensen (2-for-5, three RBI) and junior outfielder
Kyle Musser, who went 2-for-2 and scored three times coming off the bench, joined Wildman and Quinlan with multi-hit games.
Freshman left-handed pitcher
Huxley Holcombe earned the victory for Cornell, improving his mark to 2-2 on the season. He allowed five runs on five hits in his five innings while walking three and striking out three. Junior right-handed pitcher
Ryan Porter and junior southpaw
William Jaun appeared in relief for the Big Red. Jaun's appearance was his first in nearly a month (March 16 at Richmond).
Ryan Dromboski kept Cornell's offense at bay until the sixth inning, as he was saddled with the loss after being responsible for allowing seven runs on five hits in his five-plus innings of work. Despite the gaudy numbers, Dromboski issued two walks and matched his season-high for strikeouts with nine. Penn's five relief pitchers combined to give up 11 runs on nine hits across the final four innings.
Four Penn batters had two-hit days in the nightcap, highlighted by Taylor going 2-for-5 with a double, home run, and four RBI. Connor Chavez and Henseler each had two hits and two RBI in the setback. Henseler's latter hit was the 200th of his collegiate career, becoming the third Penn player to reach the milestone.
Penn took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning behind a two-out, three-run home run off the bat of Taylor before Cornell retaliated with a three-run frame in the next half inning. A sacrifice fly by Swidorski set up a two-out, two-RBI single by Jensen that tied the game.
The Quakers regained the lead on a two-out RBI double by Ozmer in the third, enabling the Big Red to draw the game level at 4-all in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by senior designated hitter
Nathan Waugh. Quinlan ignited Waugh's RBI by hitting a leadoff triple off the batter's eye in center field.
For the third time in the game, Penn took control of the lead as the Quakers received another two-out RBI base hit by Taylor, this time an RBI double down the right-field line.
After the Quakers regained their lead, Cornell quickly took its first lead of the day and never looked back.
Consecutive five-run innings were the first of 14 unanswered runs over the next three innings for the Big Red.
In the sixth, a wild pitch by Dromboski brought the tying run across home plate, setting up Quinlan for a two-run single off the batter's eye to give Cornell its first lead. An RBI fielder's choice from Waugh and an RBI single by Quatrani increased Cornell's lead to 9-4.
Wildman's first grand slam punctuated Cornell's latter five-run inning, giving the Big Red a 14-5 advantage. Jensen tallied the first RBI of the inning with a run-scoring single.
The latter grand slam increased Cornell's lead to 18-5, as Wildman's home run went over the batter's eye in center field and into the protective netting that prevents any balls from entering the off-ramp from the Schuylkill Expressway.
Penn would not go down without a fight as the Quakers scored three runs apiece in the eighth and ninth innings in an attempt to mount a late comeback.
GAME NOTES
• Cornell and Penn met for the 293rd and 294th times on Saturday, with the series continuing to favor on the side of the Quakers. The Big Red's record against Penn now stands at 128-165-2.
• Cornell's 18 runs scored were its most in a game against Penn since plating 23 runs in a 23-10 victory on April 15, 2006. It is the third-highest scoring output against the Quakers in the Ancient Eight programs' 135-year history.
MOST RUNS AGAINST PENN
Cornell Program History
• 23 — April 15, 2006 (W, 23-10) in Philadelphia
• 21 — April 6, 1940 (W, 21-5) in Philadelphia
• 18 — April 13, 2024 (W, 18-11) in Philadelphia
• Cornell's 18-run output was its most in a game since defeating Towson, 27-14, on April 5, 2017, and is the second-most runs scored under
Dan Pepicelli's tenure as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Cornell Baseball. Two of the four highest run totals under Pepicelli have come this season and in the last three weeks (17 vs. Dartmouth on March 30).
MOST RUNS SCORED BY CORNELL
Under Dan Pepicelli (Since 2016)
• 27, at Towson (April 5, 2017)
• 18, at Penn (April 13, 2024)
• 17, vs. Dartmouth (March 30, 2024)
• 17, vs. Niagara (March 25, 2018)
• Wildman extended his hit streak to 10 games after registering base knocks in both games. He is the second Cornell player with a 10-game hit streak this season, joining Waugh, who had a 19-game streak that stretched back to last season. During his 10-game hit streak, Wildman has an OPS of 1.211 while slashing .452/.521/.690 with a double, three of his four home runs, and 14 of his 16 RBI on the season. Since the hit streak, Wildman's batting average has shot up by 91 points from .261 to .352.
• Cornell's 12-game streak of hitting a home run was snapped in the opening game, marking the first time the Big Red was held without a round-tripper since March 10 against Georgetown.
UP NEXT
Cornell will seek its first series victory over Penn since 2019 at Hoy Field and its first at Meiklejohn Stadium since 2018 when it faces the Quakers in the rubber match on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Sophomore right-hander
Ethan Hamill (2-1, 4.36 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Big Red, while Penn has yet to announce its starting pitcher for Sunday. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.
