LITTLE FALLS, N.J. — A six-run seventh inning sparked by home runs by freshmen New Jersey natives Kevin Hager (two-run) and Mark Quatrani (grand slam) aided Cornell (17-19) to a comeback victory over Penn (21-23), 7-6, at a sun-soaked Yogi Berra Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Junior right-handed pitcher Chris Ellison — also a New Jersey native —spun a 1-2-3 ninth inning to send Cornell to the championship round of the 2024 Ivy League Baseball Tournament.
Senior right-handed pitcher Von Baker was the winning pitcher for Cornell, improving his record to 2-0 on the season, while Ellison notched his first career save.
Junior left fielder John Quinlan and Matt Barnhorst each had two-hit days for the Big Red. Barnhorst joined Hager and Quatrani in having extra-base hits, igniting the six-run seventh with a leadoff double.
Davis Baker and Gavin Collins each had two-hit days for the Quakers, who now must play Princeton in an elimination game that began at 4:30 p.m. Wyatt Henseler, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year, and Baker each hit home runs in the setback for Penn.
Will Tobin, who gave up the grand slam to Quatrani, was saddled with the loss.
Penn took a two-run lead in the second inning as the first Quakers run came on an infield single by Calvin Brown and a throwing error by Max Jensen that enabled Carson Ozmer to score from first base. Connor Chavez doubled home Brown with a two-out base hit to right field.
Jensen cut the Quakers' lead in half with a third-inning RBI single that plated junior center fielder Jakobi Davis, who led the frame off with an infield single.
The Quakers went on to score four unanswered runs across the sixth and seventh innings to increase their lead to 6-1. An RBI single by Nick Spaventa in the sixth inning doubled Penn's lead before back-to-back home runs by Henseler, a two-run shot, and Baker made it a five-run ballgame.
Cornell's six-run seventh inning was ignited by Barnhorst's leadoff double down the left-field line to set up Hager's two-run blast to left field.
Following a groundout, Quinlan hit a single to center field before Waugh and Jensen each drew four-pitch walks. Quatrani, on the seventh pitch of his at-bat, hit his team-leading 11th home run of the season to right field to turn the Big Red's three-run deficit into a one-run lead.
Junior two-way player
Ryan Porter was summoned from Cornell's bullpen, escaping an eighth-inning jam that featured Penn having a runner in scoring position with no outs. Porter got a pair of swinging strikeouts before inducing an inning-ending groundout.
After leaving runners at the corners to end the home half of the eighth, Cornell thwarted a ninth-inning comeback attempt by Penn, as Ellison generated a pair of fly outs and a groundout to solidify the Big Red's victory.
GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the 296th all-time meeting between Cornell and Penn. The Big Red improved its record to 129-165-2 and has won its last three games against the Quakers.
• Cornell's three-game win streak against Penn is its longest since winning the final three games of a four-game Ivy League series in 2013.
• Saturday's contest was the first between Cornell and Penn at a neutral site since playing a doubleheader on April 7, 1984, in New York City, in which the Big Red swept by scores of 10-5 and 6-5.
• Cornell turned three double plays, tied for the most twin killings by the Big Red this season. The previous instance came in its series finale against Georgia Tech when it defeated the Yellow Jackets, 11-5, on Feb. 25.
• Quatrani's grand slam was the eighth hit by Cornell this season, three of which have been allowed by Penn pitching. The seventh-inning grand slam was Quatrani's second of the season, matching sophomore
Caden Wildman for the team lead in the category. The other grand slam hit by Quatrani came against Dartmouth in the second game of a March 30 doubleheader.
• With his four RBI, Quatrani upped his season total to 43, tying Guy Leach (1988) for the second-most runs driven in by a Cornell player in a single season. He is two RBI shy of matching Pete Watzka (45 in 1971) for the most RBI by a Cornell player in a season.
MOST RBI IN A SEASON
Cornell Program History
• 45, Pete Watzka (1971)
• 43, Guy Leach (1988)
• 43, Mark Quatrani (2024)
• 42, John DeMayo (1982)
• 42, Erik Rico (2002)
• The grand slam was also Quatrani's 11th home run of the season, tying Eric Kirby (1995) and Erik Rico (2002) for the second-most home runs hit by a Cornell player in one season. Should he hit another home run, he would equal Chris Cruz's total in 2012 (12) for the single-season home run record.
MOST HOME RUNS IN A SEASON
Cornell Program History
• 12, Chris Cruz (2012)
• 11, Eric Kirby (1995)
• 11, Erik Rico (2002)
• 11, Mark Quatrani (2024)
UP NEXT
Cornell will play the winner of the elimination game between Penn and Princeton on Monday at Yogi Berra Stadium. First pitch is slated for 1:30 p.m. Should the Big Red lose, a second game will be played approximately 35 minutes following the final out.
