PHILADELPHIA — A four-run eighth-inning rally by the Cornell baseball team turned a two-run deficit into a two-run lead as the Big Red posted an 11-9 victory over preseason Ivy League favorite Penn on Sunday afternoon to claim the three-game series from Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium.
The victory for the Big Red (10-13, 8-4 Ivy League) increased its lead over Penn (14-17, 6-6 Ivy League) in the Ivy League standings to two games, as the Quakers are situated in a three-way tie for third place with Princeton (10-19, 6-6 Ivy League) and Yale (11-17, 6-6 Ivy League). Cornell, coupled with Columbia's loss to Yale on Sunday, is now one game behind the Lions (15-14, 9-3 Ivy League) for a share of first place in the Ancient Eight.
Sophomore outfielder
Caden Wildman sparked the Big Red's two-out rally in the eighth with a bases-clearing double just out of the reach of a diving Gavin Collins in left field.
Setting up Wildman's base hit was a four-pitch walk drawn by junior first baseman
Max Jensen and senior designated hitter
Nathan Waugh getting hit by a 1-2 fastball on the left thigh — which was the second time in the inning that a Cornell batter was hit with a two-strike pitch as an 0-2 fastball plunked freshman third baseman
Luke Johnson to lead off the frame.
Right after Wildman's base knock, freshman catcher
Mark Quatrani singled Wildman home with a base hit to left field, increasing Cornell's lead to 11-9.
Junior right-handed pitcher
Chris Ellison retired six of the final seven Penn batters he faced to post his second victory of the year in as many weekends, concluding his 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Quatrani (3-for-4, two RBI) was one of two Big Red hitters with three-hit days. Junior center fielder
Jakobi Davis also went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Jensen and Johnson also had multi-hit days, going 2-for-4.
Wildman and freshman shortstop
Kevin Hager drove in three runs apiece in the victory for Cornell, which marked the Big Red's eighth win in its last 10 games. Jensen and Quatrani also had multi-RBI performances, driving in a pair of runs.
Jarrett Pokrovsky was the lone Quaker to register multiple hits off Cornell pitching, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Nick Spaventa (1-for-4, three RBI) and Collins (1-for-5, two RBI) each drove in multiple runs for Penn, which has dropped four of its last five contests and eight of its previous 11.
For the second time in as many days, Cornell opened the contest with a four-run first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Hager that snuck just inside the left-field foul pole off a 1-2 breaking pitch from Penn starting pitcher Justin Katz. Quatrani opened the scoring with an RBI single through the left side of the infield that scored junior left fielder
John Quinlan.
Penn cut Cornell's lead to 4-3 by the second inning as Collins hit a two-RBI single down the right-field line with the bases loaded in the first and Wyatt Henseler produced a second-inning sacrifice fly.
After three scoreless innings, Cornell regained a four-run lead in the sixth when senior second baseman
Matt Barnhorst scored on a throwing error by Penn first baseman Spaventa. Jensen increased Cornell's lead to 7-3 on a two-out, two-run single through the right side of the infield.
Cornell's four-run lead would be short-lived as the Quakers plated six runs in the home half of the sixth to take a 9-7 lead.
Asa Wilson doubled home two Quaker runs to cut Cornell's lead in half, 7-5, before two-out hits by Davis Baker (RBI single) and Spaventa (bases-clearing double) put Penn ahead, only to be relinquished an inning and a half later due to Cornell's timely two-out hitting by Wildman and Quatrani.
GAME NOTES
• Cornell and Penn met for the 295th time on Sunday as the Big Red improved its record to 129-165-2 over the Quakers.
• The Big Red's 8-4 Ivy League record is the program's best 12-game start in conference play since 2012 when it went 10-2. Cornell's eight wins marks the second time in the post-EIBL era (since 1993) and the 11th overall instance since joining the EIBL in 1930 that it has won at least eight games within its first 12 conference contests, joining the teams from 1939, 1941, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, and 2012.
BEST 12-GAME STARTS IN CONFERENCE PLAY
Program History (Since 1930)
• 10-2 (1977, 2012)
• 9-3 (1939)
• 8-4 (1941, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1980, 1982, 2024)
• Hager's first-inning home run was Cornell's 30th round-tripper hit this season, marking the first time in the program's 153-year history that it has registered three consecutive seasons with 30-plus home runs. The 30 home runs match last year's output, accomplished in 12 more games.
MOST HOME RUNS IN A SEASON
Program History
1. 38 (2009)
2. 35 (1999)
3. 34 (2001)
4. 33 (2022)
T5. 30 (1995)
T5. 30 (2010)
T5. 30 (2023)
T5. 30 (2024)
• Hager's three-run home run also marked the first time in his collegiate career that he had a multi-RBI game.
• For the second time on the season, the Big Red has scored 10-plus runs in consecutive games, joining Cornell's 17-2 and 11-4 victories over Dartmouth on March 30 and 31. Both instances have come in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader and the series finale on Sunday.
• Wildman's bases-clearing double in the eighth inning extended his hit streak to 11 games. During the streak, he has an OPS of 1.150, slashing .426/.491/.660, and has driven 17 of his 19 RBI on the season.
• Waugh also extended his on-base streak to 27 games with his one-out walk drawn in the first inning. Wildman and Quatrani have also reached base safely in each of their last 11 games.
• Cornell went 6-for-15 (.400) at the plate with two outs on Sunday, with all 10 of its RBI coming with two outs. The Big Red also had a .545 batting average (6-for-11) with runners in scoring position.
• Under
Dan Pepicelli, the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Cornell Baseball, the Big Red has a 31-1 record when scoring 10-plus runs and is 6-0 this season when doing so.
ON DECK
Cornell will return to the diamond on Tuesday when it travels south on Interstate 81 to face Central New York rival Binghamton (13-18, 3-9 America East) in the first of two scheduled Tuesday contests at the Bearcats Baseball Complex in Vestal, N.Y. First pitch between the Big Red and Bearcats is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+.
