Penn (22-23, 11-10 Ivy League) vs. Cornell (17-19, 11-10 Ivy League)
When	May 20
Where	Little Falls, N.J. // Yogi Berra Stadium
Watch	Monday
Radio	None
Live Stats	Monday
Notes	Cornell | Penn

 

Probable Starting Pitchers
Day	Cornell		Penn
Mon. 1:30 p.m. ET	LHP William Jaun (1-4, 9.10 ERA)		TBA

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. — The Cornell baseball team is one win away from clinching its first Ivy League title since 2012 when it faces Penn in the championship round of the 2024 Ivy League Baseball Tournament this afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, N.J.

LAST TIME OUT
Taking advantage of the relocation from Robertson Field at Satow Stadium to Yogi Berra Stadium, freshmen New Jersey natives Kevin Hager and Mark Quatrani made themselves feel right at home by sparking a six-run seventh inning to lead the Cornell baseball team to a 7-6 comeback victory over Penn, solidifying its spot in the championship round of the 2024 Ivy League Baseball Tournament.

Hager hit a two-run home run before Quatrani blasted Cornell's eighth grand slam of the season — his second on the campaign — to cap the Big Red's comeback after entering the frame trailing by five runs.

Fellow New Jersey native, junior right-handed pitcher Chris Ellison spun a 1-2-3 ninth inning to clinch the championship round berth.

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.

BACK TO POSTSEASON BASEBALL
Cornell is playing postseason baseball for the fifth time in program history (1977, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2024) and the first since 2012, when it served as the Ivy League's automatic qualifier for that year's NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. The Big Red ended up defeating Dartmouth, 3-1, in the third game of the Ivy League's best-of-three-game Championship Series. Then-sophomore outfielder Chris Cruz hit his program-record 12th home run — a walk-off, two-run shot — in the 11th-inning to send the Big Red to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977.

A win this afternoon would mark Cornell's third trip to the NCAA Tournament, its first since 2012, and serve as the most postseason victories by the Big Red in a single season.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
Friday's victory over Princeton marked the 100th coaching win for Dan Pepicelli as the Ted Thoren Head Coach of Cornell Baseball, becoming the Big Red's fourth skipper to amass 100 career wins with the program.

Pepicelli joined the likes of Ted Thoren (515 wins from 1962-90), current associate head coach Tom Ford (263 wins from 1991-2008), and former Big Red standout infielder and head coach Bill Walkenbach (130 wins from 2009-15).

MOST HEAD COACHING WINS AT CORNELL
Program History
• 515, Ted Thoren (1962-90)
• 263, Tom Ford (1991-08)
• 130, Bill Walkenbach (2009-15)
• 101, Dan Pepicelli (2016-Present)
• 87, Paul Eckley (1925-36)
• 84, Royner Greene (1949-56)

ALL-IVY AWARDS
Juniors Max Jensen and John Quinlan were unanimously voted as First Team All-Ivy players, while freshman catcher Mark Quatrani was also voted to the team and was named the Ivy League's Rookie of the Year.

Quatrani being named Rookie of the Year marked just the third time in program history that a Cornell player has been named the conference's top newcomer. Only Bill Walkenbach (1995) and Kellen Urbon (2012) were the two previous Big Red players to receive the honor.

The trio of First Team All-Ivy selections signifies the fifth overall time (1969, 1971, 1977, 1982, 2024) that Cornell has received at least three first team all-league players since first being instituted in 1960. Mike Branca (first base), Marlin McPhail (second base), John DeMayo (outfield), and Greg Myers (pitcher) all received First Team All-EIBL honors in the last instance that Cornell had at least three first team all-league selections.

TRIO OF FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE HONOREES
Program History (Since 1960)
• 1969 — Ed Cott (catcher), Chris Ritter (outfield), Pete Watzka (third base), Bob Witkoski (shortstop)
• 1971 — Tom Boettcher (third base), Pete Watzka (outfield), Bob Witkoski (second base)
• 1977 — Gary Gronowski (pitcher), Dave Johnson (outfield), Ken Veenema (second base)
• 1982 — Mike Branca (first base), John DeMayo (outfield), Marlin McPhail (second base), Greg Myers (pitcher)
• 2024 — Max Jensen (first base), Mark Quatrani (catcher), John Quinlan (outfield)

DIGGING THE LONG BALL
Cornell has hit 49 home runs this season, marking the most by the Big Red in a single season in the program's 153-year history, besting the previous mark of 38 (2009).

Freshman catcher Mark Quatrani registered the record-breaking blast with a leadoff home run in Cornell's 14-11 setback in the opener of an April 27 twin bill against Columbia in Ithaca.

Of the 49 home runs hit this season, eight have been grand slams, the most in a season on record in program history. The grand slam total matches the combined output over the previous nine years combined.

RAREFIED COMPANY
Junior outfielder John Quinlan and junior infielder Max Jensen have been two of Cornell's most reliable hitters since the beginning of Ivy League play against Princeton on March 22.

Quinlan mustered 42 hits in conference games, assuming Cornell's program record for the most hits in conference play in program history. He is also just one of two players in EIBL / Ivy League history with 40-plus hits in conference games in a season, joining former Dartmouth infielder Tyler Cox, who had 45 hits in 2022.

Jensen has also excelled against Ancient Eight opponents this season, amassing 37 base knocks to place him in a five-way tie with Yale's Dan Thompson (1995), Brown's Joe Lomuscio (2019), Columbia's Joe Engel (2019), and Harvard's Jake Suddleson (2019) for the sixth-most hits in EIBL / Ivy League history.

The Cornell duo is the first pair of teammates in the history of the EIBL and Ivy League to record at least 37 hits in the same season.

MOST HITS IN CONFERENCE PLAY IN SEASON
EIBL / Ivy League History
• 45, Tyler Cox, Dartmouth (2022)
• 42, John Quinlan, Cornell (2024)
• 39, Matt Kutler, Brown (2005)
• 38, Tom Grandieri, Penn (2010)
• 38, Peter Matt, Penn (2019)
• 37, Dan Thompson, Yale (1995)
• 37, Joe Lomuscio, Brown (2019)
• 37, Joe Engel, Columbia (2019)
• 37, Jake Suddleson, Harvard (2019)
• 37, Max Jensen, Cornell (2024)

With his RBI double in the fourth inning of Friday's win over Princeton, Jensen joined Quinlan as the third pair of Big Red teammates with 50-plus hits in a season, joining Ken Veenema (56) and Dave Johnson (50) in 1977 and Brian Billigen (57) and Frank Hager (52) in 2012. Both instances resulted in Cornell earning a spot in that year's NCAA Tournament.

TEAMMATES WITH 50+ HITS IN A SEASON
Cornell Program History
• 1977 — Ken Veenema (56) and Dave Johnson (50)
• 2012 — Brian Billigen (57) and Frank Hager (52)
• 2024 — John Quinlan (54) and Max Jensen (51)

First-year catcher Mark Quatrani has hit 11 home runs during his freshman campaign, the most ever recorded by a first-year player in Cornell program history.

Quatrani's 11 home runs have eclipsed Cornell's previous freshman single-season home run record of six, which stood for 29 years after Bill Walkenbach, who later became the Big Red's head coach from 2009-15, hit six home runs in 1996.

Q'S PROVIDING THE A'S
Junior outfielder John Quinlan and freshman Mark Quatrani have been one of Cornell's most reliable hitters since the beginning of Ivy League play against Princeton on March 22.

Quinlan has hit for a .443 average over his last 23 games, going 47-of-106 with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs, and 16 RBI.

This season, Quinlan's .424 average (42-for-99) against Ancient Eight opposition ranked second in the Ivy League behind Penn's Wyatt Henseler (.438), who claimed this year's Blair Bat, awarded to the Ivy League's batting average leader in regular-season conference games.

Quatrani, who batted .333 with seven home runs in Ivy League contests, hit the most home runs in regular-season conference games in program history, besting six-home run outputs produced by Raul Gomez (2001), Brian Kaufman (2006) and Sam Kaplan (2022).

Quatrani's seven Ivy League home runs in conference contests ranked third behind Henseler (10) and Columbia's Sam Miller (8).

Paired with his home runs, Quatrani's 30 RBI led all Ivy League batters in RBI while ranking sixth in EIBL / Ivy League history. The 30 ribbies by Quatrani are the most by a Cornell player in conference games in a single season, surpassing the previous mark of 29 initially set in 2006 by Brian Kaufman.

QUINLAN'S HOT BAT
Junior outfielder John Quinlan entered this weekend's tournament with a 1.73 hits per game average, ranking as the fourth-highest average among Division I hitters that have played in at least 75 percent of their team's games.

Rutgers' Joshua Kuroda-Grauer paced the nation with his 1.80 hits-per-game average, ahead of Austin Peay's Clayton Gray (1.78) and Georgia phenom Charlie Condon (1.76), who was one-hundredth of a point ahead of Quinlan.

Harvard's Ben Rounds has the second-highest hits-per-game average by an Ivy League player (1.61), which ranks 28th nationally.

HITS PER GAME AVERAGES
This Season (Entering Weekend)
• 1.80, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (Rutgers)
• 1.78, Clayton Gray (Austin Peay)
• 1.760, Charlie Condon (Georgia)
• 1.759, John Quinlan (Cornell)
• 1.73, Dean Ferrara (Fairfield)
• 1.72, JT Marr (Penn State)
• 1.71, Ben Watson (Virginia Tech)
• 1.69, Jon Jon Gazdar (Austin Peay)

TOUGH TO SET DOWN
Junior infielder Max Jensen entered this weekend's tournament ranked as the 23rd-toughest batter to strikeout in Division I baseball, averaging a strikeout every 12.0 at-bats.

Among Ivy League hitters, Jensen's average was 2.75 points better than Yale's Alec Atkinson (16 SO in 148 at-bats — 9.8 percent), who ranked 86th nationally.

Entering this weekend, Jensen had an Ivy League-leading 7.0 strikeout rate (11 strikeouts in 158 plate appearances) that ranked 22nd nationally.

TOUGHEST TO STRIKEOUT
Ivy League Leaders (Entering Weekend) - Strikeouts per AB
• 12.0, Max Jensen (Cornell)
• 9.3, Alec Atkinson (Yale)
• 8.4, Nathan Cmeyla (Dartmouth)

LOOKING TO EXTEND THEIR STREAKS
Senior catcher Nathan Waugh enters today riding a 40-game on-base streak, the longest by a Big Red player since Nathan Ford concluded his Big Red career with a 42-game streak over the 2008 (last two games) and 2009 (40 games).

During his on-base streak, which dates back to last season, Waugh is slashing .289/.417/.503 with eight doubles, eight home runs, 34 RBI, 41 runs, and 28 walks.

Junior infielder Max Jensen owns a 16-game hit streak entering today's contest, marking the second Big Red player to register hits in at least 15 consecutive games played this season, joining Waugh, who had a 19-game hit streak over the final four games of 2023 and the first 15 games of 2024.

WHEN IT RUNS, IT POURS
Cornell has shown a knack for scoring runs in bundles this season, as 214 of its 255 runs have come in multi-run innings (83.9 percent of its run production).

The Big Red has 63 multi-run innings this season and has registered at least one inning with two-plus runs in 31 of its 36 games played (86.1 percent). Six of the Big Red's seven runs in yesterday's win over Penn came in the seventh inning.

SCOUTING PENN
Penn enters today's contest with a 22-23 overall record and concluded Ivy League play tied with Cornell and Yale for third place with its 11-10 mark in Ancient Eight play.

Wyatt Henseler, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year and First Team All-Ivy selection, leads the Quakers offensive attack with his .367 batting average, 21 home runs, and 51 RBI. Nick Spaventa (.333/.416/.525), Carson Ozmer (.324/.448/.461), Ryan Taylor (.311/.406/.485), and Davis Baker (.308/.380/.513) all boast batting averages north of .300.

Cole Zaffiro (4-4, 5.07 ERA) and Ryan Dromboski  (3-5, 7.36 ERA) have both started all 12 of their appearances this season. Zaffiro leads the team in innings pitched (65.2) and strikeouts (80), while two-way player Carson Ozmer has held opponents to a Quakers-best .210 batting average in his 14 relief appearances. Eli Trop (3-2, 3.54 ERA) has held the opposition to a .213 batting average over his 18 outings out of the bullpen.

135 YEARS, 230 MILES, 296 MEETINGS
Cornell and Penn have met 296 times prior to today's postseason contest. The Quakers own the series lead, 165-129-2, and have won six of the last nine contests.

With a win over Penn this afternoon, Cornell will have its first four-game win streak over the Quakers since stringing six wins together across the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Sophomore outfielder Caden Wildman and freshman catcher Mark Quatrani were respectively named the Ivy League's Co-Player and Rookie of the Week after having successful weekends for the Big Red against Penn in its mid-April regular-season series.

Wildman had a historic performance against the Quakers, hitting two grand slams in as many innings in the nightcap of an April 13 doubleheader to become the first Big Red player in program history to hit two grand slams in one game. He then registered a bases-clearing double in the series finale that gave Cornell the lead for good in its 11-9 victory.

Quatrani hit for a .462 average against Penn, going 6-for-13 with a double and driving in six Cornell runs en route to the first of his two consecutive Rookie of the Week honors.